GREEN BAY – For the second time in 11 days, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball team entered halftime with a double-digit lead over state rival UW- Milwaukee.
He didn’t waste it this time.
UWGB defeated UWM 57-42 in a Horizon League tournament quarter-final on Thursday in front of 2,014 spectators at the Kress Center, advancing to the semi-finals for the 27th time in the last 28 seasons.
No. 3 Phoenix (20-6) will face No. 4 Cleveland State (20-7) on Monday at the Indiana Farmer Coliseum in Indianapolis.
The Final Four was reseeded after No. 7 Oakland shocked No. 2 YSU in another quarterfinal on Thursday. The Golden Grizzlies will face No. 1 seed IUPUI.
UWGB beat CSU 66-64 in a regular season finale on Saturday after taking a 17-point lead with 6 minutes, 41 minutes nearly erased when CSU hit six 3-pointers.
It was the only meeting of the season between the teams, with a January 14 match at the Kress wiped out due to COVID-19 concerns.
UWGB coach Kevin Borseth thought his team would face YSU in the semi-finals.
Instead, he must find a way to slow Destiny Leo down. The second-year goaltender is averaging 18.6 points and had 27 against the UWGB.
“They’re a good team,” Borseth said. “Do you want to see hard inside? They are really tough inside. They have players who are really good.
“They have arguably the best scorer I’ve ever seen in women’s college basketball. I mean, she shot three 3s at us. She knocked punches. We were on it. This kid can really create. This kid can really shoot.
The Phoenix, meanwhile, had little trouble with the same Panthers team they lost to last Monday after squandering a 14-point lead.
UWGB scored the first four points in the gate, eight of the first 10 and led edge to edge.
He was leading 30-20 at halftime and no one had to remind the players what happened last time.
“We talked about it as a team,” said first-year guard Cassie Schiltz. “We said we had to start our first 5 minutes really strong. We knew they were racing too.
“We didn’t want that same feeling, the end of the last game.”
Any UWM hopes of another comeback ended early in the third quarter.
UWGB started the second half on a 13-4 run, which included 3 points from Schiltz and freshman forward Maddy Schreiber, to take a 43-24 advantage with 4:27 remaining in the third. .
He led by no less than 23 points twice in the fourth quarter.
Schiltz had a big day for the Phoenix, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds while shooting 6 for 11.
The former Luxembourg-Casco star provided the attacking spark early on, scoring the UWGB’s first six points and setting up 11 in the first half.
Freshman hitter Julia Hartwig added a career-high 11 points and shot 5-for-7, while Horizon rookie of the year Bailey Butler had nine points and four rebounds.
The UWGB defense did the rest, holding the Panthers to 34 percent shooting (17 for 50) and outscoring them 37-29. The 42 points were tied for the least this season after also finishing with that total in a loss to Florida State in November.
The UWM forward duo of Emma Wittmershaus and Megan Walstad were limited to 11 combined points after scoring 28 in the last encounter against the UWGB.
“We did a good job in the lane and kept them out of the glass,” Borseth said. “We thought if we kept them out of the glass it would help us. Tonight it worked. We fought inside, because they are really good inside.
difficult end
Hartwig started in place of first-year forward Brooklyn Blackburn, who hasn’t played since sustaining a foot injury against IUPUI on February 19.
Blackburn was on the bench Thursday using a small scooter, and Borseth confirmed she’s out for the season no matter how far the Phoenix go.
“You have to know Brooklyn,” Borseth said. “We finally convinced her and really left, then boom, she gets hurt.
“She has really started to become a leader on the pitch, as (one of the) people who get things done. Whereas at the beginning of the year, perhaps not so much. She really understood things and brought a lot to our team. It’s unfortunate, but she will recover. We will get her back for next year.
