The IU Southeast women’s basketball team defeated visiting Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic conference opponent Midway College 94-69 on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at the Activities Building.
With the win, IU Southeast improved their record to 13-7 and 6-0 in the KIAC. Midway’s record dropped to 6-14 and 2-2 in the KIAC.
Whitney Duncan, IUS junior guard, led four IU Southeast players in double figures with 26 points. Alden Krausse, IUS junior forward, scored 16 points, Tia Wineinger, IUS junior forward, added 14 points and Ashmere Woods, IUS freshman guard, had 12 points.
IU Southeast used the height of Krausse and Wineinger inside and the speed of Duncan to take control of the game from the start.
The Grenadiers jumped out to a 17 point lead in the first half against the Eagles and never trailed after the game’s first two minutes.
Women’s basketball coach Robin Farris said he was happy with the way his team came out and played at the start of the game.
“I thought we came out at the start and played really well and played well at the end of the first half,” Farris said.
IU Southeast gave Midway problems with their zone defense, forcing the Eagles into 23 turnovers. Duncan was able to capitalize on those turnovers by scoring most of her points on layups off mistakes by the Eagles.
Farris said he was happy with the way his team played defense.
“We didn’t let up,” Farris said. “We stayed pretty intense on defense getting steals and deflections that ended in fast break points.”
Halfway through the first half, the Eagles were able to put together a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 11 points.
The Grenadiers responded to the 6-0 run with Duncan racing down the court and passing to an open Wineinger, who sank a three pointer from the wing.
“Duncan is the quickest player on the court 95 percent of the time, and she knows how and when to use it,” Farris said.
Duncan was happy with her team’s performance, and she said she sees improvement every time out.
“We ran the ball really well tonight,” Duncan said. “We are getting better every game.”.
The Grenadiers finished the first half on a scoring run, pushing the lead back out to 16 points at the half.
The game got worse for the Eagles in the first three minutes of the second half when their head coach, Karley Mohler, was given a technical foul for arguing with referees over a non-call.
Krausse took advantage of the Eagles technical foul by scoring six straight points and helping the Grenadiers put together a 10-point scoring run.
For the game, the Grenadiers shot 49 percent, hitting 33 of 67 shots.
Krausse was perfect from the field hitting all five of her shot attempts on the night.
The Grenadiers held the Eagles to 39 percent shooting and blocked nine Midway shot attempts.
Krausse led IU Southeast with five blocked shots. Katie Mayes, Midway junior center, and Lindsay Combs, Midway freshman forward, scored 12 points each to lead Midway.
The Eagles were able to put together two scoring runs in the second half. The first was an 11-0 run and the second was a 6-0 run midway through the second half.
Duncan ended both of the Eagles’ runs with timely baskets. The Eagles were unable to get any closer than 12 points during the second half.
“We just kept going back at them,” Murphy said.
Farris said he was happy Duncan responded to the challenge of making plays for the team when they needed a basket.
“She has a big heart,” Farris said. “You can’t judge her by her size.”
Duncan is listed at 5 feet tall, and is often the smallest player on the court.
Even with a win, Farris said he found some things that the Grenadiers need to improve on.
“I didn’t like the first half offensive rebounding,” Farris said. “I told the girls that could cost you in other games if they didn’t hit the boards.”
The Eagles out-rebounded the Grenadiers 44 to 39 overall and had 18 offensive rebounds compared to just 12 for IU Southeast.
By JUSTIN RAY
Staff Writer
jusray@ius.edu
