Monday State Sports Briefs: UWGB lauded by New York Times

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GREEN BAY - A great day continues for the UW Green Bay women's basketball team. It started early this morning, when the New York Times published a very flattering profile of the Phoenix.

Then just before noon, the AP media poll was released, giving Green Bay its first ever Top 10 ranking in the nation's premiere women's basketball poll. The Phoenix moved up two spots from last week to #10, after building up a 19-0 record with victories over Valparaiso and Butler. Green Bay coach Matt Bollant called it great recognition for his program. Baylor remains #1, and the Lady Bears and Green Bay are the only teams in the Top 25 which are still unbeaten. But the accolades didn't end there. The Horizon League named Green Bay senior forward Julie Wojta its player of the week today. That's the fourth time she won it this season. Wojta averaged 17 points and nine rebounds in the victories over Butler and Valpo. She has also moved into Green Bay's Top-10 all time lists for both points at 1,352, and rebounds with 700. Green Bay is off until Saturday, when it hosts UW-Milwaukee. Meanwhile, the USA Today ESPN coaches' poll is due out tomorrow and the Green Bay women were in a three-way tie for ninth last week.

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Winning streaks by Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin have both schools moving up the national men's basketball polls. Marquette is now 15th in both major polls, after moving up two spots from a week ago in the AP media poll and three places in the USA Today ESPN coaches' survey. The Golden Eagles are 18-4 overall with a six-game winning streak. They'll host Seton Hall tomorrow night. The Badgers, meanwhile, moved up six spots to #19 in the AP poll. And they're ranked 20th by the coaches, up five places from last week. The Badgers are 17-5 with a five-game winning streak. They're at Penn State tomorrow night. Kentucky remains at #1 in both major polls.

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The Milwaukee Bucks will try to go 2-0 against Detroit tonight, when the two teams play in the Bradley Center. The Pistons lost 102-93 in their first trip to Milwaukee on January 12th. Greg Monroe had 32 points and 16 rebounds for Detroit in that contest. And he had 16 points and 10 boards on Saturday night at Philadelphia. The Pistons as a team shot only 34% in losing by 21 points to the Sixers. Detroit is just 1-9 on the road, where they're averaging an NBA low 81 points. Milwaukee is coming off a 100-89 home victory over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Saturday night. Bucks' guard Stephen Jackson was suspended for that contest, after he verbally abused an official at Chicago Friday night and refused to leave quickly enough after he was ejected. Jackson has been coming off the bench lately, and has not scored in the last two home games in which he's played. Milwaukee is 8-11 overall. Detroit is 4-17.

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The University of Wisconsin is still #1 in the new women's hockey poll from U.S. College Hockey Online. The Badgers are 24-2-2 overall, after sweeping Bemidji State at home this past weekend. Mark Johnson's Badgers are unbeaten in their last six contests. Minnesota moved up to second this week, and Cornell dropped to third. Minnesota-Duluth is still atop the College On-line men's poll, and the Badger men remain unranked.

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Green Bay Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the most marketable athlete in the NFL. That's according to Sports Business Daily, which surveyed business executives, reporters, and analysts. Rodgers finished first by a slim margin over New England quarterback Tom Brady. TV viewers have seen Rodgers in a lot more commercials in recent months for products like Ford, Associated Bank, Nike, and State Farm Insurance. Green Bay's Clay Matthews appeared with Rodgers in the most recent State Farm ad, and he ranks 9th on the list of most marketable NFL athletes. Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo, a native of Burlington in Racine County, is tied for 10th.

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