Greyhounds continue losing streak
The University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team continued a three-game losing skid with a 73-50 defeat by the University of Saint Francis on Dec. 9.
The game was plagued by poor shooting percentages and long scoring droughts, which led the Greyhounds into a hole they couldn’t dig out of. In the first half, only one of eight three-point shots was made. The second half saw zero of 10 three-point shots made and a .250 shooting percentage that produced just 16 points.
There also were five-minute and seven-minute scoring droughts from the Greyhounds in that half.
Senior forward Katie Lyons finished with 11 points, and freshman guard Megan Birchmeier added eight, while freshman guard Katy McIntosh finished with six points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Losing is never fun, no matter what, but now it really does teach us what our weaknesses are,” women’s basketball head coach Leanne Freeland said.
The Greyhounds opened conference play with a 42-57 loss to GLVC rival Northern Kentucky University.
The Greyhounds swept NKU last season by defeating them both times they met.
Defense proved to be the deciding factor of the game as the NKU Norse, who currently lead the GLVC in scoring defense.
NKU held UIndy to its lowest point total since 2007 with just 42.
Lyons led the team in scoring once again with 14 points. While senior center and last year’s GLVC Player of the Year Samantha Meissel saw early foul trouble and ended with 11 points. Freshman guard Rose Savela scored 10 points in her first start for the Greyhounds.
“Our schedule tested us early this year,” Freeland said. “We have to get better.”
The Greyhounds hosted the UIndy Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 26-27.
They opened the tournament against Marygrove with a large margin of 81 points to win 121-40 over the Mustangs.
Meissel led in scoring with 20 points, Lyons added 18 and Savela had 15, while freshman guard Shelby Wall finished with 12 points.
Overall, all 15 players on the roster had at least 3 points.
They also produced a record field goal percentage at .714, a new program mark.
Sophomore guard Kristin Turner defends the ball from a University of Saint Francis player on Dec. 9 in Nicoson Hall. The Greyhounds were defeated 50-73. Photo by Elizabeth Wheeler.
The next day, they faced nationally ranked No. 23 Tusculum and fell 64-83 for their first season loss.
Both Lyons and Meissel found themselves in foul trouble early in the game, hurting the Greyhound offense.
Despite this, Meissel led the team in scoring and finished with 26 points, and Lyons followed with 14 points.
After last year’s nearly undefeated regular season, the early losses came hard to the team.
“You always learn from you losses,” Meissel said. “We consider ourselves a new team already and want to bounce back and do a big 180.”
After All-GLVC player Katie Dewey and All-American Jessica Canary graduated last year, the Greyhound line up looks significantly different.
The 2010-2011 roster features eight freshmen on the 15 person list.
The Greyhounds ended the 2009-2010 season with a 26-4 record and saw national rankings as high as No. 2.
They also set a UIndy record at 24 straight wins and ended with a national tournament appearance.
“We lost a lot of experience and have a lot of newcomers,” Meissel said. “[Katie] Dewey had been our ball handler since her freshman year, and we haven’t found anyone to step up in scoring to replace her yet.”
Freeland agrees.
“It’s always hard when you lose guards and key positions. They were vital to our success for four years,” Freeland said. “But we have very talented young players, and they are extremely intelligent. They’re doing very well.”
The Greyhounds continue their season at the Florida Southern College Classic Dec. 18-19 before returning to GLVC Conference at Illinois-Springfield on Jan. 1.
