Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship Final Set
INDIANAPOLIS - Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne, the League’s top two teams who split a pair of regular season meetings, will play for the crown Tuesday at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis. No. 1 seed Green Bay held off No. 4 RMU 67-53 in Monday’s first semifinal and No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne beat No. 3 Cleveland State, 83-65.
Rubber Match: Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne are as evenly matched as can be, a fitting finale for who will play in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne edged Green Bay 67-66 in Fort Wayne in December. At the end of the regular season, Green Bay took a 68-63 overtime win over the Mastodons.
Championship Shooting: Both Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne advanced on the strength of outstanding shooting. Green Bay (28-5) knocked down 21 of its 22 free throws to build a 21-5 edge over RMU at the foul line. Purdue Fort Wayne (25-7) unleashed a barrage of long-range shots against Cleveland State, shooting 15-for-28 from long range.
Worthy Semifinalists: RMU, advancing to the semifinals in Indianapolis for the first time, saw its season end with a 14-16 record. Cleveland State, the 2023 tournament champion, is 24-9 and awaits its postseason tournament options.
Top Seed Green Bay Advances To Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship Final
For the ninth time in 11 years, Green Bay will play in the Horizon League’s women’s basketball title game. The defending champion and top seed in this year’s tournament moved past No. 4 seed Robert Morris 67-53 Monday afternoon.
Major Stars: Green Bay’s Natalie McNeal had game highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds. Maddy Schreiber scored 16 points and hit three 3-pointers while Jasmine Kondrakiewicz added 14.
Quotable: “At this time of year, you are who you are. And that’s a great thing for us,” Green Bay head coach Kayla Karius said. “We are a really great version of ourselves right now. We will continue to work and make some tweaks and get ready for an exciting championship game.”
Dig Deeper: RMU built a 13-4 lead in the game’s opening minutes and led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter. An 18-3 Green Bay run in the second quarter put the Phoenix ahead 33-22 at halftime. Green Bay limited RMU to five points in the second quarter. RMU closed to within 53-47 with 6:00 left but the Phoenix made the plays down the stretch to advance.
Charity Work: Green Bay made 21 of its 22 free throw attempts, including a 10-for-10 effort from McNeal.
No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne Scorches Nets En Route To Championship Game
No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne put on a shooting display Monday afternoon, beating No. 3 Cleveland State 83-65 to set up a final showdown with Green Bay with a League tournament title on the line.
Sharpshooting: Purdue Fort Wayne started the game by making five of its first seven from long range, and kept it going from there. By halftime, the Mastodons had made 10 treys and led by 13. Lauren Ross sank six 3-pointers for 18 points. Purdue Fort Wayne was led by Amellia Bromenschenkel’s 23 points. The 15 made 3-pointers by Purdue Fort Wayne was just one shy of the single-game Horizon League tourney record, set in 2005 by Green Bay.
‘Dons Sharing The Sugar: Purdue Fort Wayne had 26 assists on its 33 made field goals. Three different players had five or more assists for Purdue Fort Wayne, which shot 52 percent on the day.
Closer Look: Ross led the ‘Dons to an early 15-5 lead. CSU got going on offense behind a standout game from Mickayla Perdue, who scored 33 points. But Purdue Fort Wayne was relentless from long range. Cleveland State never got closer than 10 points in the second half.
Quotable: “For those five seniors to step up and be huge for us today, I’m happy for them,” Purdue Fort Wayne coach Maria Marchesano said. “That’s what they wanted to do for our program and that’s what they did.
“We’ve got a team full of 3-point shooters and if their feet are set, I want them to shoot it. We are a talented shooting team and it’s cool to have a game like this in this moment.”