UWGB basketball roundup: Women lose in WNIT, men's forward Manny Ansong enters transfer portal

GREEN BAY – The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball coaching staff didn’t need a scouting report on Minnesota junior guard Sara Scalia entering its Women’s National Invitation Tournament showdown Thursday.

The Phoenix recruited her when she was a star at Stillwater High School in Minnesota. She visited campus several times, and UWGB coach Kevin Borseth felt they were close to landing her before she opted to stay closer to home.

Scalia showed why they liked her so much in UWGB’s 73-65 loss in front of 928 at the Kress Center, finishing with a game-high 33 points while playing all 40 minutes.

She had eight points in the first 20 minutes but was almost unstoppable in the second half, including scoring 16 points in a decisive fourth quarter.

The Phoenix appeared on its way to earning the first WNIT win in program history, taking a 52-46 lead into the final quarter.

But the Gophers and Scalia outscored UWGB 27-13 in those last 10 minutes, shooting 50% overall and going 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

“We had some shots, we didn’t make them,” said Borseth, whose team went 5-for-16 during the same stretch. “Had we made the shots in that game, it would have been a lot closer. I thought we had some really good looks. We had two bad possessions, is all we had. The other ones, we had good possessions and got shots. We just didn’t make them.

“And she did make them.”

The Phoenix fought back early to put itself in good position late. It was down 30-23 with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the first half, but scored 11 of the final 13 points to take a 34-32 advantage at the break.

It was the Sydney Levy show during the run, with the junior guard scoring the final eight points of the half on two 3-pointers and a driving layup.

UWGB started the second half scoring the first seven points to take a 41-32 lead and still was up five with 7:36 remaining when Minnesota started its comeback.

Levy finished with 20 points and shot 8-for-16, while Maddy Schreiber had 13 points and Hailey Oskey 13.

The game went almost the same way as the last time the teams met, which came in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2018. UWGB also held a lead going into the fourth quarter that day but was outscored 30-13.

Despite the loss, there is a lot to like about a young Phoenix squad that finished the season 20-8 and had two players in Bailey Butler and Schreiber named to the league’s all-freshman team.

UWGB loses only one player to graduation in senior point guard Meghan Pingel.

“They were fun to coach,” Borseth said. “They worked hard the whole year. They played together. They grew from the beginning to the end. Leaps and bounds. Everything you’d want as a coach and as a program, they did.

“Grew as players, grew as people. They were fun to watch. Sad that Meghan has to leave, but she had a great career when she was here. The rest of those guys get a chance to come back and pick up the pieces and learn from this.”

Manny Ansong enters transfer portal

The UWGB men’s team won’t have Manny Ansong for a third season after the junior forward entered the transfer portal Thursday.

The 6-foot-4 Ansong averaged 11 points and 5.1 rebounds while starting all 27 games he played in 2021-22.

He’s the second player to enter the portal since the start of the offseason, following freshman forward Japannah Kellogg III.

Ansong played for Phoenix coach Will Ryan at Division II Wheeling University before transferring to UWGB when Ryan was hired in June 2020.

Ansong has one season of eligibility remaining. As a graduate transfer, he will be permitted to play immediately for his new team.

His departure could give 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman Brayden Dailey an opportunity for more playing time next season.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB women's basketball falls in WNIT; Manny Ansong in transfer portal