Green Bay wins Horizon title.
Green Bay punches its NCAA ticket
DETROIT - They can take the Horizon League tournament out of Green Bay, but they can’t keep the UW-Green Bay women from dancing.
UWGB beat Detroit, 64-52, in the championship game of the conference tournament Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It was the seventh straight appearance in the title game for the Phoenix, which has won three straight tournament championships and 15 of the last 20. It will be making its 17th appearance in the NCAAs.
The women’s conference tournament was held at a neutral site this year for the first time, which meant the topseeded Phoenix had to hit the road in order to secure a spot in the Big Dance.
It didn’t turn out to be much of a problem.
This perhaps was even more satisfying for a team that overcame some big hurdles in the final weeks of the season, when it trailed Wright State by two games with three left but found a way to share the Horizon’s regular-season title for the 19th straight year.
It then came here and won three games, including a semifinal against in-state rival UWMilwaukee and a title game showdown against a Detroit team playing 10 miles from home.
“This is what we strive for, this is the standard of our program,” said senior forward Mehryn Kraker, who was overcome with tears. “I think a lot of times from the outside it looks easy. It looks effortless, and it’s not. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. We are tested day in and day out. The public doesn’t see that, which we pride ourselves in.
“But every year is so sweet. This is the culmination of my career. This one has been the most memorable season with the greatest girls.”
UWGB led wire-to-wire against Detroit, holding the Titans to 35.4% shooting (17 for 48) despite them going 7 for 14 from three-point range.
The Phoenix’s offense went mostly through the trio of Kraker and juniors Jessica Lindstrom and Allie LeClaire this season, and it was those three that helped lead the way in this one.
LeClaire finished with a team-high 19 points, including 15 in the second half when she scored the 1,000th of her career. Lindstrom added 15 points and nine rebounds and was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while Kraker had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Rosanna Reynolds scored a game-high 25 points for Detroit.
UWGB was up by just three points after the first quarter but scored 12 of the first 14 in the second to take a 27-14 lead. It led by 11 at the half and by 17 with 3 minutes 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“I think the moment got to us a little bit,” Detroit coach Bernard Scott said. “The disadvantage we walk in today is that this is our first time here for all of these young ladies. Green Bay has been fortunate enough to be in this game every year just about. So their young ladies were prepared for the moment.
“I think we let the moment get to us, and because of that we weren’t as smooth offensively.”
The Phoenix will find out its NCAA first-round opponent Monday, but the team plans to enjoy this win first.
“We are going to savor this for a little bit,” Kraker said. “Then we will get right back to work, because that’s what we do. We are going to be tested in practice. We are going to go as far as we see ourselves going.
“This is not an end for us. We talk about this all the time. This is just a stepping stone for us.”