The Green Bay Phoenix women were buried at two lines by Cleveland State in the Barbasol Horizon League tournament championship game in Indianapolis Tuesday afternoon 73-61. The Vikings scored 61 of their 73 points from the free throw line (22 of 24) and even more damaging, from the three point line as they drained 13 of 27 shots from behind the arc to secure the automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s tournament, their first appearance since 2010. The Lady Phoenix, vying for their first trip to the dance since 2018, led 16-15 after the opening quarter but fell behind by 6 at the half, the deficit was 10 after three quarters and got as deep as 21 points in the 4th quarter as Cleveland State just kept raining three point shots through the net. Offensively, Green Bay went cold, making only 15 of 55 shots through three quarters before they finished the game with a flurry, making 8 of their last 10 shots to make the final score a bit more respectable. Gabriella Smith led the Vikings with 19 points, hitting 5 of 7 from three point range. She was one of 4 Cleveland State players in double figures. The Phoenix was led by Natalie McNeal with 18 points, Sydney Levy finished with 9. Cleveland State advances with a 30-4 record, finally getting the better of the Horizon League regular season champs after losing both regular season meetings to the Phoenix. Green Bay falls to 27-5 but because they won the regular season title, will get an automatic bid to the WNIT tournament. There’s an outside chance, based on their record, top 10 defensive ranking nationally and NCAA history, they could get consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA but that appears dashed by the deadly long range shooting of Cleveland State.
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