Perfect season snapped in Evansville
An undefeated season is shattered for the University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team, courtesy of the University of Southern Indiana, who knocked off UIndy 82-76 on Feb. 13.
The Lady ‘Hounds rallied from a 22-point deficit to take the lead with 6:59 remaining. However, USI took the lead for good with 5:08 to go.
In Owensboro on Feb. 11, Indianapolis soundly defeated host Kentucky Wesleyan 87-42 to push their record to 24-0.
Six days earlier, perfection was at risk early in the Feb. 6 game against Drury.
However, in the second half, UIndy buckled down defensively. At the 9:14 media timeout, Indianapolis trailed by six. Coming out of the timeout, the ‘Hounds switched to a 2-3 zone and proceeded to outscore the Panthers 19-9 the rest of the contest.
After ties at 61 and 62, senior guard Jessica Canary found junior forward Samantha Meissel down low for an easy deuce. Meissel then converted from distance to give the ‘Hounds their largest lead of the game with 55 seconds remaining.
Meissel played a crucial role in the fourth quarter, scoring the last nine of 12 points in the 69-65 victory.
“So far I feel like we’ve proven ourselves, not only to ourselves, but to the nation. We’ve shown what we can do, and that’s one of our biggest achievements,” Meissel said.
Indianapolis’ victory Feb. 4 proved much easier, as the host ‘Hounds defeated the Rockhurst Hawks 97-50.
Head Coach LeAnn Freeland said the team does not merely concentrate on wins. Rather, the focus is to play as best as they can as a team, and their goal is to get better individually and collectively every day.
“This season our team chemistry and senior leadership has been outstanding. UIndy basketball has had several successful teams in the past,” Freeland said. “However, this is the highest national ranking and longest undefeated streak in program history.”
Despite the loss, UIndy is still in position to make a deep run for the school’s first team championship.
“The key is the fact that we don’t have just one great player, instead we have eleven,” Canary said. “Our unselfishness as a team and our team defense has played a big role in our success.”
