Tritons trounced, women’s basketball continues postseason run
With a dominant performance, the third-ranked University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team began their postseason with a 94-66 win over University of Missouri-Saint Louis. UIndy built a 49-31 lead at half using twelve Triton turnovers and 53% shooting.
Indianapolis maintained their touch from the field to outscore UMSL 45-33 in the second half, finishing the game shooting a little under 60% to cruise to the quarterfinal round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) tournament.
Junior forward Samantha Meissel led all scorers with 22 points.
To conclude the regular season, Indianapolis recorded an 80-69 win over GLVC foe Northern Kentucky Feb. 20. The victory ended their regular season with a 25-2 overall (16-2 GLVC).
After the conference tournament comes the NCAA tournament, with the ultimate goal of a national championship. The women’s basketball team maintains high expectations for both.
“The regular season prepared us for post-season because it taught us how good we are and it also gave us confidence,” senior guard Katie Dewey said.
The ‘Hounds were undefeated until back-to-back losses to Southern Indiana and Bellarmine late in the season. Despite this setback, the team sees it as an opportunity to learn.
“We know we aren’t perfect; we made mistakes and we paid for them. The question is how will we bounce back,” Meissel, the GLVC Player of the Year, said.
Head Coach LeAnn Freeland agreed that the losses taught them to not let their guard down for any team.
“This was the toughest regular season conference schedule I have ever had to endure as a player or a coach. Every night, the opponent gave us their best shot,” Freeland said.
Now the regular season is over and the slate is wiped clean.
“The postseason is essentially a new beginning when every team starts over at 0-0. We must be ready to play every night,” Freeland said. “It doesn’t matter what the score was during the season because now every team is playing to keep their season alive.”
Dewey recognized the difficulty of beating teams twice and emphasized the need for the team to focus even more now. In addition, the ‘Hounds may face Southern Indiana and Bellarmine again, two teams that prevented their perfect season.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing either of them in the conference tourney,” Meissel said.
Hosting the first round of the conference tournament is a big advantage for teams; something the women’s basketball team has earned. If the GLVC tournament goes as planned, they could also host the NCAA regional games.
Dewey and Meissel agreed that it is significant to have a home crowd in the postseason and hope the school comes out to support the team.
“Students, teachers and other coaches that have been at our games really help us out. We tend to bring more energy to the floor when we are at home,” Meissel said.
Looking at the upcoming postseason, Freeland maintains a level head.
“We do not set goals of wins or losses. I ask our ladies to focus on the little things we can do to have the edge on our opponents,” Freeland said. “When our team maintains this focus, the wins take care of themselves.”
Indianapolis will play Wisconsin-Parkside March 6th at one o’clock in Springfield, Ill.
