The IU Southeast women’s basketball team clinched the 2nd seed in the KIAC South Division Sunday afternoon in the Activities Building after beating the Eagles of Midway College.

On Senior day, the Grenadiers honored senior guard Heather Wheat, and senior guard Megan Cureton, as the two played their last regular season game as a Grenadier.

IU Southeast struggled early on against Midway College’s zone defense, but they were able to keep the score close throughout the first half with defense of their own. They held the Eagles to only 27 percent shooting in the first half.

The Grenadiers ended the half with a nice run, mostly coming from Wheat, who scored seven points in the final three minutes to push the Grenadiers lead to 23-19.

During the second half, the Grenadiers got things going offensively as they began to have more success at attacking the Eagles zone.

Wheat had a strong performance in the second half scoring 14 points and going 7-10 from the free-throw line. One of those points was a three-pointer midway in the second half that gave Wheat more than 2,000 points in her career as a Grenadier.

“It was one of my goals this season to get to 2,000 and I fulfilled that goal,” Wheat said.

Wheat had a game-high 26 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds.

Head coach Robin Farris said that dribble penetration was the best way for them to beat Midway’s zone defense in the second half.

“We had Heather slicing in there a couple times penetrating and drawing a foul or dishing,” Farris said.
Wheat wasn’t the only senior to make big plays in the second half.

Cureton, who went 0-6 in the first half, came up huge with two big steals and transition baskets, along with a three pointer late in the second half that helped the Grenadiers get the win.

“At halftime I just had to reevaluate and focus more,” Cureton said.

Cureton finished the game with 10 points and 4 steals.

Midway did make a comeback late in the game that came up short and IU Southeast was able to escape with a 67-61 victory.

Farris had a lot of good things to say about his two seniors after the game.

“I had to take Megan out in the second half because she had dropped her head a little bit,” Farris said. “But I was really glad when I put her back in and she made the plays for us to win the game.”

Farris then called Wheat the most impactful and most important player that has ever played at IU Southeast.

“She does so many things,” Farris said. “She can score, pass, rebound and defend.”

Now that the regular season has come to an end, the Grenadiers turn their attention to the KIAC tournament.

The Grenadiers finish the regular season with an overall record of 19-11 and 9-6 in the conference, which gives them the second seed in the KIAC south division. The second seed means that they will host the first game of the conference tournament against the Red Wolves of IU East. IU East defeated the Grenadiers earlier in the season 93-74 on their home floor.

Tomorrow night, the Red Wolves will be playing on campus in the Activities Building and it’s win or go home for both teams. Tip off is at 7 p.m.