Byrne Reaches 1,000 Career Points as St. Norbert Routs Randolph

From Sports Information Director, December 17, 2016 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Norbert College senior guard Brianna Byrne became the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points as the Green Knights topped Randolph College 69-47 in the St. Pete Classic at Eckerd College's McArthur Center.

Byrne finished with a game-high 21 points to give her 1,015 for her career. Byrne is only the third Green Knight to reach 1,000 career points in 15 seasons and the first since Krista Pelky ended with 1,170 points in 2012.

The win over Randolph also marked the 80th different school St. Norbert coach Connie Tilley has defeated in her 40-year career.

St. Norbert (4-4), which overcame difficult winter travel in Milwaukee late Friday and arriving in Tampa in the wee hours of Saturday morning, overcame a sluggish start to pull away in the last three quarters.

The WildCats led 14-12 after the first quarter before the Green Knights took command in the second quarter. St. Norbert went on a 7-0 run early in the frame, started by a Regan Carmichael layup. Jill Kleiman followed with a pair of free throws, a Jelena Ostojic basket and a Sarah Ratajczyk free throw for a 21-15 lead with 5:59 left in the half.

Byrne canned a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:13 of the period - the first of which put her over the 1,000-point mark - to give St. Norbert a 31-21 halftime lead.

St. Norbert led 35-28 with 6:38 left in the third quarter before the Green Knights went on a decisive 7-0 run. Mallory Nickerson had four points and Carmichael three in the spurt, which gave St. Norbert a 42-28 edge with 3:54 left in the period. The Green Knights never led by less than 10 points the rest of the game.

The Green Knights shot 45.0 percent (27-for-60) from the floor. Byrne's 21 points was the only double-figure total. Kleiman and Carmichael had eight points apiece.

Randolph shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) from the floor and committed 26 turnovers. Daijah Johnson led the WildCats with 10 points.