By Green Bay Athletics
GREEN BAY – The 2023-24 home opener went according to plan for the Green Bay women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon. The Phoenix dominated Illinois State, 88-62, to secure the team’s first win of the season.
The Phoenix (1-1) had three players score in double figures, led by Callie Genke, who had a career-high 26 points and six rebounds. Cassie Schiltz tacked on 15 points and five rebounds, while Jasmine Kondrakiewicz finished with 10 points and five rebounds. The bench was huge for the Phoenix, scoring 40 points compared to the Redbirds’ 11 bench points.
Kate Bullman led Illinois State with 18 points in 31 minutes. Maya Wong also chipped in with 17 points – five assists and three rebounds.
How it happened
After playing to a 6-6 tie early in the game, Green Bay went on an 11-0 run with 6:37 left in the first quarter, culminating in a three from Genke, to take a 17-6 lead. The Phoenix would never relinquish that lead and entered the second quarter up 19-9.
The second quarter saw both teams trading buckets for a majority of the way until GB finished the half on an 11-4 run to take a 42-28 advantage going into the locker room. Nine of the 11 points in the Phoenix closing run were three-straight three pointers from Genke. GB hit a total of five threes in the quarter to account for 15 of their 23 points.
Illinois State came out of halftime determined to get back into the game and cut the Phoenix lead to six after a Wong three made it 56-50 with 4:13 left in the third quarter. GB punched back right away with back-to-back threes from Bailey Butler and Genke to make it 62-50.
Green Bay came out hot to start the fourth, ripping off a 13-0 run capped off by a Natalie Andersen three to give the Phoenix a 77-54 lead with 5:56 left. The Green & White kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 88-62 win.
Up next
Green Bay will be on the road for a while, with the next home game not until Wednesday, Dec. 13 against UIC. Next up for the Phoenix is an away game at Creighton on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. Following, GB will travel to Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun Challenge where they’ll take on UMass, Maryland, and Washington State.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.