The Green Bay women’s basketball team continued its perfect start to the season on Tuesday night, defeating North Dakota 67-43 at the Kress Center. Behind a dominant performance from Meghan Schultz and a suffocating defensive effort, the Phoenix stay unbeaten through three games for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
Schultz once again set the tone for the Phoenix, finishing with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting, while adding six rebounds and two blocks. Carley Duffney, a transfer in her first season with Green Bay, provided a strong complement with 13 points and four assists, while Kamy Peppler added three steals to lead the defensive charge.
Despite a slow offensive start, the Phoenix found their rhythm in the second quarter outscoring the Fighting Hawks 21-15 taking a 35-30 lead into halftime. From there, Green Bay’s defense took control. UND shot just 29.2 percent from the field and 24 percent from three, struggling to find any consistency against the Phoenix pressure.
The Phoenix turned 26 North Dakota turnovers into 25 points, consistently capitalizing on transition opportunities. Green Bay also dominated inside, outscoring UND 32-16 in the paint, as the starters carried the load offensively, accounting for 61 of the team’s 67 points.
In the third quarter, the Phoenix extended their lead to double digits thanks to balanced scoring and a steady defensive presence. By the fourth, Green Bay closed the door completely outscoring UND 19-5 in the final frame and holding the Fighting Hawks without a field goal for nearly five minutes.
Green Bay shot 40 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc, while converting 9-of-10 free throws. Though UND won the rebounding battle 41-34 behind 18 boards from Ava Miller, the Phoenix’s ability to force turnovers and dictate tempo made the difference.
The victory keeps Green Bay unbeaten ahead of a matchup with New Hampshire at 11 a.m. inside the Kress Center. They’ll then travel to Madison on Sunday to face Wisconsin at 2 p.m. as non-conference play continues.
