The IUS women’s basketball team cruised through the first two rounds of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament and set a school record for wins in the process.
St. Louis Pharmacy
The No. 1 seeded Grenadiers defeated last-seeded St. Louis College of Pharmacy in the first round on Feb. 22 in the Activities Building.
IU Southeast acquired the No. 1 seed by going undefeated in conference play and had the advantage of having home court throughout the tournament.
The two teams are familiar with each other, having played 10 days earlier during IU Southeast’s homecoming.
That game was an easy victory for the Grenadiers, and this one would prove to be the same.
The Eutectics were at a disadvantage the moment they stepped off the team bus.
“Some of our players actually missed the bus,” Courtney Wiedemer, sophomore guard, said.
The Eutectics were missing half of their roster and only dressed six players. That was the bad news.
The good news was the Eutectics were able to keep the score close in the first 10 minutes and trailed by just 4 points.
Now back to the bad news. The Eutectics were still missing players.
Being shorthanded would have its repercussions when facing the No. 1 Grenadiers.
The Grenadiers went on a 22-4 run to take control of the first half and led 37-15 at the break. The Grenadiers continued their offensive outburst in the second half by scoring 10 points in the first two minutes.
The Eutectics, on the other hand, were just trying to catch their breath.
The fast-paced offense was too much, and IU Southeast prevailed 80-25.
“I wanted to keep everyone sharp and make sure we didn’t have any injuries,” Robin Farris, IUS head coach, said.
Whitney Duncan, senior guard, led all scorers with 18 points.
Stephanie Chen, junior forward, had 12 points for the Eutectics.
Midway
The Grenadiers set a school record for victories 48 hours later in their semifinal game against Midway College.
The victory against the Eagles gave the Grenadiers their record 26th win of the season.
The game started off slow for the Grenadiers, as they only managed 2 points in the first five minutes, but the Eagles didn’t do much better.
The game went back and forth with each team, exchanging minimal leads before the Grenadiers were able to build their offensive momentum.
The Grenadier backcourt of Duncan and Ashmere Woods, sophomore guard, began scoring points in bunches.
Both players were able to get past their defenders for easy baskets in repetitive fashion.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Grenadiers’ lead grew to 23 points.
The offense continued to be ran through Duncan and Woods.
Midway had no answer for the guards.
The Eagles were also having offensive troubles due to Kortney Woods, sophomore center.
Woods continued to deny the Eagles when they attempted to pass the ball inside. Woods also had several key blocks.
A couple of Grenadier turnovers late in the game caused Farris to pull off his sports coat, but the game was never in doubt.
The Grenadiers moved to the KIAC finals by defeating Midway 89-61.
“I think our defense was the key,” Bernie Merkel, IUS assistant coach, said. “We held them to 21 points at the half.”
“They really had a hard time guarding us man-to-man,” Merkel said.
The two KIAC all-conference members, Duncan and Woods, combined for 40 points in the record-breaking victory.
By GARRETT TAYLOR
Staff
gartaylo@imail.iu.edu
