Green Bay Captures 2025 Barbasol #HLWBB Championship Title

Green Bay Captures 2025 Barbasol #HLWBB Championship Title

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INDIANAPOLIS - For the sixth time in 11 years, Green Bay is the Horizon League women’s basketball champion. The top seed Phoenix broke open a close game late to beat No. 2 seed Purdue Fort Wayne 76-63 Tuesday in the Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship.
 
Titletown: Green Bay (29-5) will play in the NCAA Tournament for the 20th time.The Phoenix own 18 League tourney titles, with the first coming in 1998. Once there, the Phoenix has shown it can make some noise, winning six games in its proud history.
 
MVP - Most Valuable Phoenix: Natalie McNeal scored 26 points and was named Key4Women MVP of the tourney. She shot 11-for-20 and grabbed eight rebounds to lift Green Bay to the title.
  • In the two games at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis, McNeal averaged 23.0 points and 10.0 Rebounds.
  • McNeal shot 14-for-14 at the foul line in Indy, matching the tournament record for free throw percentage set in 2021 by Isabelle Gradwell.
  • McNeal became the second player in Horizon League history to earn MVP honors twice. Notre Dame’s Krissi Davis was twice named MVP in 1989 and 1991. 
Dig Deeper: The first half matched all of the hype as the two top teams in the league traded shots. The game was tied at 40 at the break and featured 13 ties and 10 lead changes before Green Bay took control. Purdue Fort Wayne led 50-48 in the third quarter when the Phoenix closed the quarter on a 12-3 run. Green Bay then extended the lead to as much as 18 late in the game.
 
All–Tournament: In addition to McNeal’s MVP showing, the following standouts earned all-tournament honors:
  • Maddy Schreiber, Green Bay
  • Amellia Bromenschenkel, Purdue Fort Wayne
  • Sydney Freeman, Purdue Fort Wayne
  • McKayla Perdue, Cleveland State
Quotable: “I want to give a lot of credit to Purdue Fort Wayne, they’ve been a great team and a really difficult team to guard when they get going,” said Green Bay head coach Kayla Karius. “We joked before the game that this is really about loving each other and loving this program, and when you have that, you give it more. It’s a pretty incredible thing and it says a lot about our program and the community we have in the city of Green Bay.”
 
Up Next: Both Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne await their postseason options. Green Bay will learn its next matchup on ESPN’s Selection Sunday coverage on March 16.