Morning State Sports Briefs: UWGB women to host remainder of Horizon League tourney

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UW-Green Bay Phoenix

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GREEN BAY - UW-Green Bay has earned the right to host the final two rounds of the Horizon League women’s basketball tournament. That’s after the Phoenix crushed Loyola 89-41 at home in last night’s quarter-finals.

Celeste Hoewisch led Green Bay with 23 points – and she outscored the entire Ramblers’ team 19-to-16 in the first half. The Phoenix scored the game’s first 11 points, and later went up 23-to-2. Sarah Eichler had 15 points as Green Bay improved to 30-and-1, hitting the 30-victory mark for the first time in its 38-year history. The 13th-ranked Phoenix also won their 21st straight game overall, and they’re now 15-0 at home. Gabby Micek scored eight points for ninth-seeded Loyola, which ends its season at 12-and-19. Green Bay, the tournament’s top seed, will host Number-four seed Wright State in the semi-finals tomorrow night.

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The season is over for the UW-Milwaukee women. The Panthers lost at Wright State 63-58 last night in the quarter-finals of the Horizon League Tournament. The fifth-seeded Panthers led for most of the second half. But Number-four Wright State closed out the game with a 9-to-2 run to advance. Senior Lindsay Laur had 17 points and 13 rebounds in her final game at UWM. Anne Breland scored all but two of her 17 points in the second half. LaShawna Thomas led Wright State with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. The fourth-seeded Raiders improved to 19-11, and will play top UW-Green Bay in tomorrow night’s semi-finals on the Phoenix’s home floor. Milwaukee ended it season at 12-18.

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Former Marquette guard Jerel McNeal has signed a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Hornets. Coach Monty Williams says he won’t play right away – but he wants McNeal to be ready if necessary. The 6-3 McNeal has played 40 games this season with Rio Grande Valley in the NBA’s Development League. He averaged 19-and-a-half points, four-and-a-half assists, and just over four rebounds per game. McNeal will add depth to the Hornets’ backcourt after Chris Paul suffered a major head injury last Sunday after colliding with Cleveland guard and former Buck Ramon Sessions.

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University of Wisconsin offensive tackle Gabe Carimi says he won’t take back his recent comment that he’s the best NFL Draft prospect at his position. He raised some eyebrows with that remark at last month’s Scouting Combine. But at the Badgers’ workout day for pro scouts yesterday, Carimi said he would not have made the remark if he didn’t believe it – and the teams he spoke with agreed with him. Carimi says his confidence will only help his chances for a high draft spot – and he can’t see why teams wouldn’t want a confident player. Several Badgers auditioned, including running back John Clay and defensive end J.J. Watt. Green Bay Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson were on hand for the UW’s Pro Day, along with Pittsburgh Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin and other front office personnel from around the league. Also at the event, Badgers’ coach Bret Bielema clarified the way he’ll delegate coaching responsibilities on defense. Chris Ash and Charlie Partridge have been named the co-defensive coordinators. But Bielema says Ash will call the plays and Partridge will be an assistant head coach.

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UW-Superior was eliminated from the NCAA Division-Three men’s hockey tournament last night, losing at home to Hamline 3-2 in overtime. Chris Berenguer scored the deciding goal almost seven minutes into the OT. Superior had a 2-1 lead in the third period before Hamline’s Danny Vranek tied it with just under nine minutes left. Superior made a flurry of shots to try and win the game late in regulation, but it wasn’t to be. Beau Christian had 36 saves for Hamline, which improved to 17-6-5. They’ll play at Saint Norbert of De Pere in the national quarter-finals on Saturday night. Jordan Van Gilder and Talon Berlando scored for Superior, which ends its season at 16-13-1.

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Carolyn Freeman of UW-Green Bay took 15th place in the five-kilometer freestyle yesterday at the NCAA Skiing Championships in Stowe, Vermont. The senior fell short of her goal of making the Top-10 and getting All-American status. But Green Bay assistant coach Steve Teclaw said she had a solid race none-the-less. Freeman will compete on Friday morning in the national finals of the 15K Classic. It will be the final race of Freeman’s career.

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