Postseason: Women’s Basketball
After entering the 2011 GLVC Tournament as the eighth-seed, the University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team made a run to the championship game where they lost to sixth-seeded Lewis University (15-15, 7-11 GLVC), 71-68, on Sunday, March 6.
The string of upsets featured wins against the fifth, fourth and first-seeded teams of the tournament.
In their first trip to the final in six years, the Greyhounds couldn’t manage to gain a lead and maintain it. The game saw just two instances where UIndy led as the Flyers maintained control for the majority of the game, despite its close score.
Lewis was led by GLVC Tournament MVP Jenny Turpel with 25 points. UIndy was led by sophomore guard Heather Gonser with 17 points while freshman guard Shelby Wall added 14 points in the loss. In addition to Gonser and Wall, sophomore guard Kristin Turner made the GLVC All-Tournament team. Despite the strong tournament run, the loss ended the Greyhound’s 2010-2011 season.
“They’ve competed for state championships if they’re freshmen now, and our returners had a chance of course to play in kind of prime-time settings already with us,” said Head Coach LeAnn Freeland. “I think it’s a strength going in, even if we are kind of young, that they have been in pressure situations and had to perform.”
The semi-final match saw the Greyhounds upset top-seeded and No. 13 ranked nationally Quincy University (25-3, 16-2 GLVC), 81-72, on Saturday, March 5. The sophomores Heather and Nickole Gonser combined for 39 points in the win. The Greyhounds outperformed Quincy in multiple areas, including rebounds (45-29), free throw attempts (33-8) and points off the bench (35-6).
Proving the young talent on the Greyhound squad, Heather Gonser finished with 22 points, Nickole Gonser with 17 and freshman Katy McIntosh with 15. The Greyhounds slashed Quincy’s 87.8 average points per game by allowing the Hawks just 72 points in the upset.
For the second round of the GLVC tournament, UIndy upset fourth-seeded Northern Kentucky University (18-10, 11-7 GLVC), 61-57, on Friday, March 4. The close game featured 26 lead changes. UIndy was down with 30 seconds remaining, but back-to-back threes from Heather Gonser and Turner won the game for the Greyhounds. Freshman guard/forward Diana Jovanovic led the team with 12 points while Turner and McIntosh each finished with 10 points. The Norse had defeated the Greyhounds 52-42 just two weeks earlier in their last game of the season.
“We were patient offensively, which created the shots we wanted,” senior forward/center Katie Lyons said.
The Greyhounds upset Northern Kentucky University (18-10, 11-7 GLVC), 61-57, on Friday, March 4 in the second round of the GLVC Tournament.
They were led by Jovanovic’s 12 points and four rebounds. Turner and McIntosh both finished with 10 points.
The team defeated Southern Indiana University (16-11, 12-6 GLVC) 85-74 in the first round of the GLVC Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 26. The win upset the GLVC rankings, with the eighth-seeded Greyhounds beating the fifth-seeded Screaming Eagles for the team’s first 2011 postseason win.
“Our players were very confident going in, and as coaching staff, we felt very confident as well,” Freeland said.
