Tesha Buck – Photo: Green Bay Phoenix Athletics
The ninth-seeded Green Bay Phoenix women gave undefeated and eighth-seeded Princeton all it could handle in Saturday’s NCAA Women’s Tournament opener; however, the Tigers prevailed 80-70 in College Park, Maryland.
Green Bay seemingly had an answer for every Princeton run, but could not stop the Ivy League champions on the inside. The Tigers owned a 49-22 edge on the boards, including 17 offensive rebounds. It added up to 19-4 advantage on points in the paint.
Mehryn Kraker drained five 3-pointers and shot 8-of-16 en route to a game-high 21 points. Kaili Lukan added 17 points and Tesha Buck 14. Buck finished 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Green Bay force 19 turnovers, leading to 22 points. The Phoenix led by one at half (35-34), yet only led for two minutes, 49 seconds of the game.
Kevin Borseth’s team finishes the season 28-5, though one additional highlight for the GB coach was shaking hands with President Barack Obama. The Commander-in-Chief was in attendance to watch his neice Leslie Robinson. Robinson is the daughter of former Princeton great Craig Robinson, who is First Lady Michelle Obama’s brother.