By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY—Whatever frustrations the Phoenix had in the first 12 games of the 2019-20 season were put to rest Saturday afternoon as the Green Bay women’s basketball team built a 34-point halftime lead in route to a 65-44 victory over Northern Kentucky in a game played Dec. 28 at the Kress Events Center.
“That’s what we’re capable of,” said Kevin Borseth, Green Bay head coach. “We played well on both fronts and the first half was obviously very good.”
Green Bay (6-7 overall, 1-0 Horizon) put four in double figures with Madison Wolf and Frankie Wurtz leading the way with 12 points apiece.
Ally Niece paced the Norse (6-6 overall, 0-1 Horizon) with nine points.
The Phoenix started the game on a 15-0 run spurred by the contributions of both Madison and Mackenzie Wolf who had five field goals during the run.
“I wanted to put these guys in together,” said Borseth, referring to Mack and Madison starting the game. “It gives us an advantage and they were very productive for us in the frontcourt. It opens it up then for our three kids in the backcourt to throw darts at the basket.”
As good as Green Bay was during the first seven minutes of the game, Northern Kentucky was equally as bad. The Norse missed their first seven shots of the contest and turned the ball over three times. They finally got on the board with 3:02 left in the first quarter with a triple by Grayson Rose.
The Phoenix took a 25-7 lead after the first quarter and it finally looked like a team which had beaten #18 ranked Syracuse just a month earlier.
The second quarter was much a microcosm of the first.
Hailey Oskey got involved in the offense with a pretty up-and-under left-handed scoop shot to give the home team a 30-7 lead with 8:25 left till halftime.
The lead grew to as much as 35 points after Patricia Gallasova drove from the top of the key all the way to the basket for a lay-up to put the home team in front 47-12 with 1:07 left till the break.
In the first 20 minutes of action, Green Bay hit 61 percent of their field goals, while Northern Kentucky was a dismal 4 of 28 for 14 percent.
With a 34-point cushion in hand entering the second half, there was no doubt the Phoenix were going to win the game unless a catastrophic occurrence happened.
The Norse were able to outscore the Phoenix 17-11 in the third quarter to cut into the margin, but it was Green Bay who coasted to a 21-point victory.
“If you’re going to win you need it (balance scoring across the board),” Borseth said. “We want to have four or five girls in double figures every game. It frees up everybody, so somebody isn’t just guarding one player tight.”
Green Bay will host Wright St. Monday, Dec. 30, at 7:00 p.m.
Note: Patricia Gallasova wore number five for the game instead of her customary No. 11.
Box Score:
Northern Kentucky: 7, 6, 17, 14—44
Green Bay: 25, 22, 11, 7—65
Norse: Niece 9, Glick 8, Rose 7, Souder 6, Clos 5, Garcia 4, Turner 3, Coffey 2.
Phoenix: Madison Wolf 12, Wurtz 12, Oskey 11, Hibner 10, Mack Wolf 8, Murphy 6, Robson 4, Gallasova 2.