The IUS women’s basketball team lost to Asbury on Jan. 26 with a final score of 76-73.
The game was packed with hard fouls, scrums on the floor for loose balls and a double technical foul.
The opening tip went to the Eagles as they pushed it up and down the floor for several early baskets.
The Grenadiers called a timeout to regroup, but the Eagles hit the floor again with intensity and a game plan, which earned them two more 3-point plays.
A bit stunned, the Grenadiers called another timeout and came back with determination. They hustled down the floor, ran their play and swished a 3-point shot.
Trenia Barbee, junior guard for the Eagles, pushed it up the floor, down the lane and drove hard toward the basket. However, she was unintentionally tripped by Megan Murphy, senior forward.
The Grenadiers looked frustrated. Though the Eagles had nearly doubled their score midway through the first half, the Grenadiers still fought.
Back in, after her injury, Barbee stormed down the lane again coming against Murphy at center. Murphy tipped the ball and disrupted the shot, which infuriated Barbee.
After the whistle, she swung her arms around and beat her chest while yelling profanities. She walked over to Murphy, screaming in her face and bumped chests with her.
Murphy stood her ground, looking into Barbee’s face and said a few things of her own before the referee blew another sharp whistle and came over to break them up.
He called a technical foul on Barbee for unsportsmanlike conduct, which garnered strong applause by the IUS crowd. Before the clapping finished, a second referee came over to change the call. He gave an additional technical foul to Murphy.
The crowd yelled, booed and cursed at the referee. Three men stood and faced the crowd to lead the uproar. They swung towels over their heads and yelled back and forth from the crowd to the floor.
After about a minute of disruption and several questionable comments from the three men, the referees sent Denny Williams, assistant athletic director, to escort the men out of the gym. The young men filed out in front of Williams, while yelling a few more chants to the crowd.
The Grenadiers, fired up from the crowd, pushed back hard and closed the gap down to nine points before the half, making the score 38-29.
The Eagles were scoring well, and the Grenadiers were fighting for every point. Gradually, though, the persistence of the Grenadiers started to show.
The Eagles were missing more shots and allowing more turnovers. The Grenadiers pushed it back the other way each time and began scoring several points at a time. With four minutes to go, the Grenadiers were within 5 points of the lead — the closest they had been all game. Several more turnovers by the Eagles became several more tense points scored by the Grenadiers. With less than a minute left, the Eagles led by only one point.
It was the Grenadier’s possession. They pushed it down the floor and ran their play but couldn’t connect. The Eagle’s took it back the other way to score the final two points, and won the game 76-73.
“Before this year started, Asbury was 0-41 against IU Southeast in 17 years of basketball,” Flener said. “I told the girls, only 39 more in a row, and we’d even the series,” he said.
In response to Flener’s rivalry comment, Robin Farris, IUS women’s basketball head coach, said he was not so sure about that.
“Maybe he feels that way, and it sounds like he does,” Farris said. “I don’t think they’re any different.”
Farris said the team needs some work.
“This year, we’re struggling defensively,” Farris said. “When we score over 70 points, we should win, but we gave up almost 80 points.”
Farris said he wants the team to practice more.
“Early in the game we settled for too many 3-pointers,” Farris said. “We took a lot of 3-point shots ourselves. We just weren’t making them. We can’t just be a perimeter team.”
Ashmere Woods, junior guard, talked about the next time they play Asbury.
“We can’t get down 18 points in the first half and expect to win,” Woods said.
By S.B. WEBER
Staff
samweber@ius.edu
