By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent

GREEN BAY — On a snowy Saturday afternoon Dec. 12, the Green Bay women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow start in falling 61-58 to Milwaukee in a Horizon League game at the Kress Events Center.

It was Green Bay’s third consecutive loss.

“We weren’t able to get the right play in on the last possession,” said Kevin Borseth, Green Bay head coach. “We’re dealing with young kids.”

Jasmine Kondrakiewicz led the Phoenix (1-3 overall, 0-1 Horizon) with 13 points and six rebounds, while Cassie Schiltz (Luxemburg-Casco grad) added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Green Bay shot 20-for-58 overall from the field, including 6-for-25 from beyond the arc.

Seymour graduate Hailey Oskey suited up and started her first game of the 2020-21 campaign.

She finished with four points in 31 minutes of action.

The Panthers (4-1, 1-0) were paced by Megan Walstad, who had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Milwaukee committed 15 turnovers but held a 37-29 advantage on the glass.

Green Bay started 1-for-8 from the field, with the Panthers jumping out to a 9-2 start after Bre Cera nailed a 3-pointer.

The Panthers took an 11-8 lead after one, but it could have been worse for the Phoenix had the Panthers not committed 10 first-half turnovers.

Brooklyn Blackburn and Kondrakiewicz connected on back-to-back baskets midway through the second quarter to cut the lead to two points, but Green Bay’s woes from the field (26 percent for the half) continued.

The Phoenix trailed 25-19 at the break.

Green Bay opened the third quarter with two quick baskets, but once again, the Panthers had an offensive answer, as they went on a subsequent 14-5 spurt to push their lead back to 39-28 after Sydney Staver connected on a reverse lay-up.

Moments before the third-quarter horn sounded, Schiltz hit a triple to trim Milwaukee’s lead to single digits entering the final quarter.

“We were flailing at that point, and I thought we made a good charge at the end of the quarter to get back in the game,” added Borseth. “We got some good defensive stops, which turned into made shots on the opposite end.”

With about four minutes left and the Panthers holding a 54-48 lead, Ellie Foster connected on a pair of free throws for the Phoenix.

A little later, Meghan Pingel ripped a three from the right wing to make it 58-56 with 1:37 remaining.

After a made free throw by the Panthers increased the margin to three points, Foster settled for a layup to make it 59-58 with 0.8 seconds left.

After being fouled, Cera made two free throws for Milwaukee.

Green Bay had one final chance after calling its last timeout and getting the ball at midcourt.

However, Pingel’s desperation heave from 30 feet at the buzzer didn’t find iron.

Box score

Milwaukee: 11, 14, 24, 12 — 61

Green Bay: 8, 11, 23, 16 — 58

Panthers: Walstad 16, Staver 13, Cera 13, Moore 8, Bisping 5, Wittmershaus 4, Schmelzer 2.

Phoenix: Kondrakiewicz 13, Schiltz 12, Foster 9, Hibner 7, Robson 5, Oskey 4, Blackburn 4, Pingel 3, Hartwig 1.