Both UW-Green Bay women's basketball seniors Allie LeClaire and Jessica Lindstrom added to their marks in the Phoenix record books during the team's senior day celebration Sunday. The duo combined for 37 points, 18 rebounds and five assists in a 88-45 win over Detroit Mercy to close out the regular season.
Lindstrom put up a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season and the 39th of her career.
LeClaire, meanwhile, had 18 points of her own and rose on the Phoenix all-time scoring list, now at ninth place with a career points total of 1,411 points.
But Head Coach Kevin Borseth says what they bring to the floor is beyond what's measured on a box score.
"They've got a ton of confidence in themselves, they've got a ton of confidence in their teammates. They just play with absolutely no reservations," Borseth said Sunday. "They are as good of players as this program has ever had, as good of players as I've ever coached. I've never had anybody better than these two."
"It was special. I think we had a lot of fun today," LeClaire, a former Notre Dame standout, said. "We were on the bench and we were like, 'Wow that was fun!' I think just getting everyone involved and it is senior day, and it's a day for Jess and I, but it's just fun to play with our teammates. I think you can see that."
The Phoenix notched their highest point total of the season with 88 and 10 different players scored. And even after securing the program's 20th-straight Horizon League title, the Phoenix seniors played significant minutes in their last game at the Kress, despite emotions bubbling up about the chapter about to close.
"There was probably a little bit of nerves at the beginning of the game, just because we were both looking at each other like, we're going to throw up. And then we're fine but just thinking about it," Lindstrom said, laughing. "But obviously we tried to focus on the task at hand as well so we thought we'd focus on the speech and stuff after. And then when the time came, it came, and we crushed our speeches."
"I don't think a lot of teams even do senior speeches and stuff after games, they just show the jersey and stuff, but that's a testament to our fans and how much they invest in us and our program," LeClaire said. "So it's definitely special and I wouldn't want to go out with anyone else so it was an awesome day."
