by GREEN BAY, Wis. — In their first home game since November 20, the Green Bay women’s basketball held off a second half surge from Central Michigan to take the contest 71-67.
The Phoenix (6-4) had four players score in double figures against the Chippewas (2-7), led by Hailey Oskey (Oneida), who had 19 points. Cassie Schiltz tacked on a career-high 18 points and Maddy Schreiber chipped in as well with 10 points.
Green Bay’s defense forced 20 CMU turnovers while committing 16 of their own. Those takeaways turned into 19 points on the offensive end of the floor for the Phoenix. Meghan Pingel’s three steals led the way for the Phoenix.
After playing to an 11-11 tie early in the game, Green Bay went on an 8-0 run with 1:52 left in the first quarter. The run culminated in a buzzer-beating three from Oskey to take a 19-11 lead. Green Bay relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down four shots from beyond the arc to account for 12 of its 19 points.
Green Bay kept its first-quarter lead intact before going on another 8-0 run starting at 9:04 in the second period, which was highlighted by a three from Bailey Butler to increase the lead to 29-13. The Chippewas slowly cut into that lead, but the Phoenix still sat comfortably with a 41-31 advantage heading into halftime. Green Bay was strong from deep in the period once again, knocking down three treys to account for nine of its 22 points.
Green Bay continued to preserve its halftime lead before going on their third 8-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Schreiber, to expand its lead to 57-42 with 2:47 to go in the third. The Chippewas continued to fight back however, and ended the third period on a 9-0 run of their own. The Central Michigan run culminated in a buzzer-beating half-court shot by Molly Davis to cut the Green Bay lead to just four, 57-53.
Central Michigan proceeded to tie things up at 61-61, but Green Bay went on a 5-0 run to seize a 66-61 lead with 1:57 to go in the contest. CMU narrowed the margin to 70-67 after another Davis three, but the Phoenix held on for the 71-67 win.
