The Green Bay Lady Phoenix will return to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year after defeating the Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons Tuesday 76-63 for the Horizon League tournament championship in Indianapolis. 

The Phoenix turned a 40-40 tie at halftime into a convincing victory, thanks to an impressive defensive performance. They outscored the Mastodons 36-23 in the second half and shot 50 percent from the field for the game. 

Natalie McNeal scored 26 points to lead the Phoenix. Jasmine Kondrakiewicz and Callie Genke added ten points each in the win, which was their 22nd in a row.

Sydney Freeman scored 18 points for Purdue-Fort Wayne.

Green Bay will now await the NCAA women’s tournament pairings that will be released on Sunday.