The Green Bay Phoenix women’s basketball team is headed back to the NCAA Division 1 Tournament for the first time since 2018, putting the six year drought behind them with a dominant performance in the Barbasol Horizon League championship game Tuesday in Indianapolis.
The second seeded Lady Phoenix routed regular season champion and number one seed Cleveland State 64-40 with a tour de force effort from Natalie McNeal. The Germantown prep star and St. Louis transfer poured in a career high 32 points on 15 of 21 shooting from the floor, scoring 14 of her points in the fourth quarter. She added a team high 8 rebounds earning the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award.
It was a rematch of last year’s title game won by Cleveland State, who knocked out GB in the Horizon League tournament each of the past two years. The teams split their regular season meetings, each winning convincingly on their home floor.
At a neutral site, the Phoenix put their game in drive from the opening period when Cassie Schiltz drained a pair of three point shots staking GB to a 12-7 lead after the first quarter. It swelled to 32-19 at halftime as the Phoenix defense flustered the Horizon newcomer of the year Mickayla Perdue, holding her to 7 points on the game on 2 of 12 shooting. Player of the Year Colbi Maples singlehandedly tried to keep the Vikings alive with 22 points but Green Bay never gave an inch, holding Cleveland State to 32.7% shooting for the game.
Schiltz, also named to the All-Tournament team and Jenna Guyer each contributed 8 points with Bailey Butler dishing out 7 assists. Green Bay outrebounded the Vikings 41-22.
Green Bay improves to 27-6 on the year, earning their 19th appearance in the NCAA tournament. They will find out where they’re headed when the bracket is revealed on Monday.
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