By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY—The Green Bay women’s basketball team went more than nine minutes without a point in a 60-47 loss to Marquette at the Kress Events Center Nov. 19.
“We didn’t run what we were supposed to run,” said Green Bay head coach Kevin Borseth, referring to the first-half drought. “We were passive with the ball, not being aggressive. We got beat on both ends of the floor. We made multiple mistakes, especially on the defensive end.”
The scoring drought began midway through the first quarter and extended into the second.
Frankie Wurtz led the Phoenix with 13 points, while Karly Murphy added 10 points and three rebounds.
Marquette (4-1 overall) was paced by Selena Lott, who had 18 points.
Isabelle Spingola added 15 points.
The Golden Eagles drained 11 triples and shot 41 percent from behind the arc.
Meanwhile, Green Bay (2-2 overall) hit only 38 percent of its shots and connected on 2-of-8 free throws.
“I wish I had the answers for you, but I don’t,” said Borseth. “We practice [free throws[.”
Green Bay quickly fell behind 8-0.
It wasn’t until Madison Wolf came off the bench that the Phoenix were able to put their first two points on the board with 6:07 left in the first quarter.
“Madison went 4-for-5 from the field and was the only kid in the plus category for us,” said Borseth. “She’s a senior and adds a lot of good to us.”
After Lyndsey Robson nailed a three pointer a half minute later, Green Bay went ice cold from the floor, not scoring again until the 6:00 mark of the second quarter.
With the 8-0 run, Marquette extended its margin to 16-5, and ultimately, took a 23-16 lead into halftime.
At the break, Wurtz was 0-10 from the field, and the rest of the Phoenix had only seven made field goals.
Marquette came out of the locker room with a 12-3 spurt behind the trio of Lott, Spingola and Jordan King to increase its lead to 16 points midway through the third quarter.
The Phoenix made one final push early in the fourth quarter to trim the Golden Eagles’ lead to nine, but the visitors closed the door on any Green Bay comeback with back-to-back baskets.
Green Bay will travel to Chicago State Nov. 23 and then take part in the Victoria Invitational Nov. 28-30.
The Phoenix will return home Dec. 7 to face the De Paul Blue Demons.
Box score
Marquette: 13, 10, 20, 17—60
Green Bay: 5, 11, 12, 19—47
Golden Eagles: Lott 18, Spingola 15, King 11, Van Kleunen 10, Marotta 3, Anderson 3
Phoenix: Wurtz 13, Murphy 10, Wolf 8, Hibner 7, Robson 6, Dier 3