UWGB women go dancing: Phoenix earns NCAA bid with win over PFW | Green Bay Gazette
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament.
UWGB beat Purdue Fort Wayne 76-63 on Tuesday in the Horizon League tournament championship game at the Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis, earning an automatic bid to the NCAAs for the second straight year.
“We sort of joked before the game, but this really is about loving each other and loving this program, and when you have that, you just give it more than what you thought you could give before,” UWGB coach Kayla Karius said. “This group was already tight knit before I got here. There was a coaching change, and all the seniors decided to stay put when they didn’t have to. In this day and age, that’s pretty rare that all these kids wanted to come back and play for each other even though they didn’t know who the coach was going to be yet.
“It’s a pretty incredible thing. I think it says a lot about our program and the city of Green Bay and the community we have. It says a lot about their leadership and what they were willing to do.”
In a showdown between the two best squads in the 11-team Horizon, the Phoenix prevailed just like it did in an overtime win over PFW in a regular-season finale that clinched the No. 1 seed.
Both meetings during the season were decided by five or fewer points, so it wasn’t a surprise this was tight through the first 29 minutes while neither team built a lead of more than six points.
That all changed with 1 minute, 1 second remaining in the third quarter, when a veteran UWGB squad took total control and never relinquished it.
With the Phoenix clinging to a 55-53 lead, junior forward-center Jenna Guyer hit a 3-pointer and followed with a layup to put UWGB up by seven entering the fourth quarter.
It extended the advantage to 66-53 on a layup and two free throws from senior point guard Bailey Butler and a jumper from senior guard Natalie McNeal with 7:30 remaining.
Almost out of nowhere, the rout was on.
PFW led the league in scoring at 76 points per game this season, but the problem in staging a comeback was that it was facing the stingiest defense in the Horizon and one ranked No. 17 in the entire nation.
Wasn’t going to happen. At least not on this day, and not with a berth to the Big Dance on the line.
UWGB led PFW by at least 10 points for the final 8 minutes, building the lead to as much as 18 with 2:07 remaining.
Past versions of the Phoenix struggled at times since the semifinals and championship rounds were moved to Indianapolis in 2020.
UWGB fans might have attempted to forget the 37 points the Phoenix scored against IUPUI in the title game in 2020. Or the 27-point loss to Cleveland State in the semifinals in 2022 that was its worst postseason defeat since it moved to Division I in 1987. Or the loss to CSU in the title game in 2023 when it shot 3-for-18 in a disastrous third quarter.
That all seems so long ago now.
UWGB has been the queens of this tournament the past two seasons and had one of its best days at the most important time.
It shot 50% overall (29-for-58) and 12-for-12 from the free throw line, helping to offset a 6-for-22 mark from 3-point range.
McNeal didn’t start her career at UWGB and played three seasons with the Phoenix, but it would be difficult to argue that she hasn’t cemented a legendary status with the program.
The former Germantown guard scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in 34 minutes against PFW, one day after she had 20 points and 12 rebounds in a semifinal win over Robert Morris. She was named the tournament MVP.
Both performances came a year after she scored a career-high 32 points and shot 15-for-21 in a title game win over CSU.
“I just thought Nat was on a different level today,” Karius said. “There was just a look in her eye, like she couldn’t be stopped. It looked exactly like she did last year at this exact moment in the title game. She is a gamer, and we came to play today. There was nothing that was going to stop her.”
Senior forward Jasmine Kondrakiewicz added 10 points and a game-high 8 rebounds against PFW, while senior guard Callie Genke had 10 points, senior guard-forward Maddy Schreiber and Butler 9 points each and Guyer 8.
Phoenix is ready to go dancing
UWGB will learn its opponent for the opening round of the NCAAs on Sunday.
It earned a No. 11 seed last season, losing 92-63 to No. 6 Tennessee in the first round.
The highest seed in program history came in 2011, when the Phoenix received a No. 5 on the way to making its only Sweet 16 appearance.
UWGB is seeking its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2012, when it beat Iowa State in the opening round before almost pulling an upset against No. 2 Kentucky in the second round in a 65-62 loss.
“I think a big part of us this whole year is that we’ve been on a mission to get back there,” McNeil said. “Just staying hungry and knowing we are not done yet.”
GRB: UWGB women go dancing: Phoenix earns NCAA bid with win over PFW
