A tale of two halves sums up the game recently played between IU Southeast and Kentucky Christian women’s basketball teams.
The Grenadiers were able to outlast the Lady Knights 60-45 on Jan. 28 at the Activities Building. Although the Grenadiers won by 15 points, it was anything but easy.
IU Southeast got off to a slow start and looked stagnant on offense, whereas the Lady Knights were the complete opposite.
The Lady Knights scored on their first three possessions and took an early lead over the Grenadiers.
“Defensively, we got off to a bad start,” Bernie Merkel, IUS women’s basketball assistant coach, said. “They were going everywhere they wanted, and we couldn’t score.”
The Grenadiers only managed to score 11 points midway through the first half and were down 10 points at the seven-minute mark.
“They had too many uncontested shots,” Robin Farris, IUS women’s basketball head coach, said.
As the Lady Knights were preparing to take the lead, Ashmere Woods, sophomore guard, made consecutive baskets during a Grenadier run.
This allowed the Lady Knight’s lead to shrink to just a point.
The Grenadiers ended the first half trailing the Lady Knights 24-23.
Kentucky Christian started the second half of the game the same way they started the beginning by converting on their first couple of possessions.
However, this half would be different because the Grenadiers matched the Lady Knight’s by scoring on their first two possessions, as well.
“It was a Catch-22,” Merkel said. “We were able to make a few shots, but we couldn’t stop them.”
During a timeout, Farris told his team they needed to step up the defensive pressure.
“We need to make their guards as uncomfortable as possible,” Farris said.
The Grenadiers responded by forcing the Lady Knights into several turnovers.
Then the uncontested shots the Lady Knights had in the first half were being challenged by the Grenadiers.
There was a hand in every shooter’s face, and the Grenadiers increased the on-ball pressure.
The game began to turn around for the Grenadiers, and due to the defensive pressure, the Lady Knights were forced into taking wild shots just to beat the shot clock.
The Grenadiers were able to get easy shots and with a 3-pointer by Nicole Holman, senior guard.
The Grenadiers took a 40-35 lead and never looked back.
It was smooth sailing for the Grenadiers on the way to a 60-45 victory.
The Lady Knights shot 45 percent from 3-point range in the first half but only 28 percent to close out the game.
The final 20 minutes were filled with turnovers and missed opportunities for the Lady Knights.
Woods led all scorers with 22 points and 11 rebounds but was quick to give her teammates the credit.
“The team really got me going,” Woods said. “When we stepped up, our defense — our offense — came in.”
Alden Krausse, senior forward, converted on all six of her free-throw attempts on the way to 14 points and six rebounds.
Holman contributed 12 points for the Grenadiers.
“It was a frustrating first half,” Farris said. “We struggled to score and find our rhythm on offense.”
Farris said he knew his team had to make some adjustments to take control of the game in the second half.
“I told them we needed to play harder,” Farris said. “We finally found our rhythm and got some steals.”
By GARRETT
TAYLOR
Staff
gartaylo@imail.iu.edu
