Box Score Green Bay made eight of its first 11 attempts from 3-point range and went on to beat the Youngstown State women's basketball team 71-51 on Saturday at the Kress Center in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Youngstown State finishes the regular season with a 13-16 overall record, and it went 6-12 in Horizon League play. The Penguins will be the seventh seed in next week's Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship and will play at sixth-seeded Cleveland State on Tuesday.
Green Bay won for the sixth straight game to earn the second seed and a double-bye into the semifinals of the tournament. The Phoenix finished the regular season 18-12 overall and 13-5 in conference play.
McKenah Peters led Youngstown State with 15 points on five 3-pointers, and she was the only Penguin to finish in double figures. YSU went 9-for-31 from beyond the arc as a team, and Maddie Schires and Mady Aulbach each made two. For Schires, she became the 10th different Penguin to reach 65 3s in a season.
Hailey Oskey made four of Green Bay's 12 3-pointers, and she finished with a game-high 18 points. Four different Phoenix players made at least two triples as Green Bay went 12-of-20 from beyond the arc. The 12 makes were a season high.
The Phoenix shot 53.1 percent for the game, while YSU shot 34.5 percent.
Green Bay scored the first eight points of the game as YSU started 1-for-11 from the field, but the Penguins hung around and trailed just 10-8 after a Schires 3-pointer at the 3:21 mark. The Phoenix hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to take a 16-8 lead, and the margin was 18-10 at the end of the quarter.
Peters' started the second period with a 3 to make the score 18-13, but Green Bay made five 3-pointers during a 17-5 run that pushed the margin to 35-18 at the 3:58 mark. Peters made her third 3 of the quarter at the 3:35 mark, and Green Bay's lead was 37-23 at halftime.
The Phoenix scored eight of the first 11 points of the second half, but YSU regrouped and ended up even in the third period at 15 points apiece. The Penguins made four straight field goal attempts at one point, and a 12-3 run allowed them to shave the 19-point deficit down to 48-36 on Aulbach's second 3. The margin was a dozen at 50-38 again after a Quinece Hatcher basket at the 2:33 mark, but YSU didn't score again for the rest of the period.
Two Chelsea Olson free throws with 8:02 remaining in the fourth quarter got the deficit down to 10 at 53-43, but that's as close as the Penguins would get. Caitlyn Hibner scored the next five points for Green Bay, and YSU was held to two points over the final 4:50 of the game.