by By: Joey Daniels (@GBJoeyD)
ESTERO, Fla. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Leading for all but 26 seconds, the Green Bay women’s basketball team coasted to a 71-50 victory over Georgia Tech on Friday afternoon in its first game at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Germain Arena.
The Phoenix (4-1) raced out to a 6-0 lead on the back of two-straight three-pointers from standout-sophomore Tesha Buck (Mdewakanton Sioux) to open the game. Green Bay led the game for 39:34, while never trailing the ACC-member Yellow Jackets (4-2).
“Tesha hit a couple of three’s that got us going. Our defense did a really good job against a very quality opponent, it’s a great win for us,” head coach Kevin Borseth said.
Green Bay seemingly hit shot after shot, as Georgia Tech was never able to get back in the game. The Phoenix finished with a 10-for-19 shooting effort from three-point land, sparked by four three’s from Buck and three from fellow-sophomore Mehryn Kraker (West Allis, Wis.). Kraker led all scorers in the game with 20 points, while finishing with six rebounds.
“Mehryn did a really good job of hitting shots from the arc for us while also taking the ball to the basket against some big kids. She’s a key piece to our puzzle and good game today,” Borseth said.
Kraker was key to a 15-0 run in the second half, hitting a big three-pointer that began the run. The run was also keyed by Allie LeClaire (Green Bay, Wis.), who totaled six points during that stretch. The dominating stretch took the Green Bay lead from three to 18 in just over five minutes of play.
LeClaire finished with 11 points, one of three players (Buck and Kraker) to finish in double figures. The play of center Lexi Weitzer (Waukesha, Wis.) played a critical role in Green Bay’s ability to keep the Georgia Tech bigs out of the paint and off the glass. Weitzer finished with four points, three rebounds and block, but impacted the game during her 18 minutes of play.
The Yellow Jackets struggled from the outside, shooting just 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) while also turning the ball over 16 times. All-American candidate Kaela Davis was held to 13 points, as the Green Bay defense forced the sophomore into a 4-for-16 shooting day, including a 1-for-8 effort from the outside.
Senior point guard Megan Lukan was all over the floor, scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds. Lukan also finished with three assists, pacing and controlling the Phoenix offense as usual.
Following the victory, Green Bay has now logged victories over a Big Ten team, a Big East program and an ACC team, while falling in OT to an SEC team. The Phoenix will have an opportunity again against a power five school on Saturday evening.
Green Bay will now face the winner of Arizona State (Pac 12) and Villanova (Big East) tomorrow night in the winner’s bracket at 5 p.m. central time back at Germain Arena.
