GREEN BAY, Wis. — A two-point halftime lead was not enough, as Cleveland State fell to Green Bay 64-49 Thursday night in a battle for the Horizon League regular season women's basketball championship.
The fourth quarter doomed the Vikings, who were outscored 19-6 over the final 10 minutes while missing 10 of 13 field goal attempts. CSU (26-4, 16-3 Horizon League) will settle for the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament, while the Phoenix (24-4, 17-2) nab the one-seed.
Vikes star Destiny Leo stuggled on the evening, scoring only 10 points on 2 of 11 shooting. Jordana Reisma led the team with 11 points off the bench.
Substitute Natalie McNeal scored a game-high 16 on 6 of 9 shooting along with five rebounds, and Jasmine Kondrakiewicz added a double-double with 10 and 10. Green Bay won the battle on the glass 41-36, neutralizing one of CSU's strengths.
While Cleveland State can still earn a share of its first-ever regular season conference title with a win and a Green Bay loss this weekend, the Phoenix own the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the season series. The Vikings will stay in Wisconsin Saturday afternoon for a tilt with Milwaukee before returning home to the Wolstein Center for the Horizon League quarterfinals next Thursday.