The Missouri State Lady Bears put up a valiant effort Saturday afternoon in their 2007-08 home opener, but could not overcome a strong shooting performance by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Phoenix connected on 56.3 percent of its attempts from three-point range to pull away with a 78-68 victory in women's college basketball action at Hammons Student Center.
Green Bay scored the final 12 points of the first half to overcome a 10-point deficit and take control of the ballgame. Missouri State built its early lead midway through the first stanza, as sophomore Roxy Stiles reeled off nine of her 14 first-half points over a three and-a-half minute span to give the Lady Bears a 20-10 advantage. Stiles would finish the half a perfect 6-of-6 from the field for MSU.
But the Phoenix responded with some solid shooting of its own. Celeste Hoewisch scored five straight points for the visitors to spark a 39-13 run that would ultimately allow Green Bay to build a 16-point lead just minutes into the second half.
Rachel Porath hit back-to-back three-pointers in the closing minutes of the half to turn a one-point deficit into a 36-31 Phoenix advantage. Porath was successful on four of her five tries from beyond the arc in the game’s first 20 minutes, and Green Bay connected on 7-of-9 three-point attempts and shot 57.7 percent from the field as a team in the period to take a 40-31 advantage into the intermission.
Green Bay continued its hot shooting early in the second half, getting eight points from Lavesa Glover in the first six minutes of play to stretch its lead to 56-39. Missouri State would draw to within nine points at the 4:53 mark on a Maggie Dwyer three-pointer and twice cut the margin to eight in the final minute of the game.
But the Phoenix cashed in at the free throw line to put the game away, converting 14-of-17 attempts in the second half. Kayla Groh was 6-of-7 from the line in the final five minutes of play and scored 11 of her 15 points in the second stanza. Green Bay (2-1) finished the ballgame 9-of-16 from three-point range and 26-of-53 (.491) from the field.
The Lady Bears connected on just two of their 12 three-point attempts after the break and finished the game 26-of-64 (.406) from the floor.
Porath finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. She also topped all rebounders with nine boards and recorded four assists and three steals on the afternoon. Glover and Kati Harty also finished in double figures for the Phoenix with 12 points apiece.
After being held scoreless on just two field-goal attempts in the second half, Stiles shared team-high scoring honors with Tahnee Balerio as each finished with 14 points for Missouri State. Freshman Marisha Brown posted the first double-figure scoring effort of her MSU career, totaling 10 points to go along with five rebounds.
The Lady Bears (0-2) will hit the road for a Tuesday (Nov. 20) night matchup against Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark. The contest is slated for a 7:05 p.m. tip-off and can be seen live in the Springfield area on Mediacom (MCC-14) local cable channel 14.
