The odds of becoming a Division 1 athlete are long, and women’s basketball is no exception — less than 2 percent of high school girls will go on to play basketball at that elite level.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix seniors Callie Genke and Cassie Schiltz are two of those rare student-athletes. Both have been playing basketball since they were kids.
“You have to sacrifice other things like going to hang out with your friends when you’re younger. You got to put in more shots. You have to do the little things. So, you just really have to work hard and … you can achieve your goals,” Schiltz recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
That focus and drive doesn’t stop at the college level, even after big victories like the Phoenix’s recent win in the Horizon League tournament that secured them an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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“We’re not really focusing on the win streak, we’re just focusing on one game at a time,” Schiltz said. “We’re just really focused each week on who we play next and how we can give our best effort offensively and defensively.”
The Phoenix are one of the best defensive teams in women’s college basketball. They’re currently ranked 17th in D1 women’s basketball for defense and boast two star defensive players — Bailey Butler and Jasmine Kondrakiewicz.
Genke said defense can win championships.
“We always say that — defense kind of leads to offense, so you got to be able to get some stops in order for your offense to feel good,” she said.
The team has a new coach, former Phoenix player and 2011 Horizon League Player of the Year Kayla Karius. She has big shoes to fill. Kevin Borseth, who coached the team for 37 seasons, was one of the winningest coaches in the history of women’s college basketball.
“I think the transition [was] really smooth. She’s a great coach and a great leader and a great mom, as well,” Genke said.
Karius and this year’s Phoenix team started off the season with two losses, followed by a 22-game winning streak that brought the Phoenix to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th time in the team’s 52 year history.
For the first time, the Phoenix will play the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday in College Park, Maryland.
The team is going to focus on “playing together and being confident, and going in knowing that we’re able to get a win,” Schiltz said.
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