by By: Joey Daniels (@GBJoeyD)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Benefitting from a career-high performance by freshman Allie LeClaire, the Green Bay women’s basketball team grinded out a 70-55 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center.
The Phoenix (6-2) was unable to pull away from the pesky Broncos (4-2) despite leading by as many as 22 points in the second half, but LeClaire came on late to score a career-high 19 points to lead all scorers in the game. LeClaire scored 13 of 19 points in the second half, while going 4-for-8 from the three-point line.
“Allie (LeClaire) understands how to play. She’s doing a good job defensively and she’s going to continue to grow as she goes. Certainly not a surprise from any of our standpoint,” head coach Kevin Borseth said.
Green Bay was playing in just its second home game of the season and uncharacteristically had as many turnovers as its visitors. Both the Phoenix and WMU finished with 16 turnovers, although Green Bay was able to convert those into 22 points. Green Bay looked to get out and run more than it has to start this season, which led to some rare giveaways.
Mehryn Kraker picked up where she left off in Florida, scoring 16 points on a 6-for-9 shooting effort from the floor. Kraker also snagged four rebounds. Senior Megan Lukan was the third player for the Phoenix to score in double figures, as the point guard finished with 12 points. Lukan also registered eight assists in the game, only four fewer than WMU totaled combined.
“We turned it over 16 times. Most of those were unforced errors but at times those were aggressive errors. The message we gave our players in Florida was that we need to capitalize on their mistakes. We tried to do that today but we’re continuing to learn in that process,” Borseth said.
The Phoenix was able to go on a 12-0 run midway through the first half, while keeping the Broncos off the scoreboard for over six minutes. Tesha Buck (Mdewakanton Sioux) led that run, scoring 12 points during that span.
The second half was played much closer, as Green Bay held a two-point advantage at 36-34. Buck and Kaili Lukan led the rebounding efforts for the Phoenix, both grabbing seven boards.
Green Bay will hit the road against, but this time for only one game. The Phoenix will play at South Dakota State next Wednesday (Dec. 10) for a 7 p.m. tip time.
