The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team suffered a loss on March 15 to the top-seeded Ashland University Eagles, 70-56, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament.

Head Women’s Basketball Coach Constantin Popa said that the Eagles were a good team to compete against.

“They have a couple of really good players,” Popa said. “They are just a really good team, and they play well together.”

Senior guard Kristin Turner led the Greyhounds in scoring with 17 points, and junior forward Dajana Jovanovic scoring 10.

The Eagles created an early lead in the first half, amassing seven points from their All-American candidate senior guard/forward Kari Daugherty, which made the score 10-5 with 16:19 remaining in the first half.

Junior guard Katy McIntosh said that heading into the game, the Greyhounds knew they were going to play against one of the best players in the nation with Daugherty.

“We knew that they [the Eagles] were going to get a lot of rebounds and really get the ball to her [Daugherty],”  McIntosh said. “So we focused on trying to box out and keep her from getting boards and easy put backs.”

The Hounds retaliated with back-to-back 3-pointers from Turner, to trim the lead to 13-11, with 13:16 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles responded with a 15-4 run, making the score 28-15 with 8:16 left in the half. By the end of the first half, the Eagles had a 14-point advantage over the Greyhounds, 41-27.

“We couldn’t quite hit some shots from the outside to open up the lane,” Popa said in reference to the Greyhounds’ struggle with scoring.

The Greyhounds matched the Eagles point-for-point during the entirety of the second half but could not overcome the halftime deficit.

The Greyhounds’ largest deficit of 19 points came against the Eagles with 16:22 left in the game, making the score 48-29.

The Greyhounds closed the gap to 10 points, 54-44, when junior guard Shelby Wall made a 3-pointer with 11:11 left in the game. The Greyhounds followed that up, however, with nine consecutive missed shots. The Eagles took advantage of UIndy’s miscues and did not allow the Hounds to get any closer for the remainder of the contest.

After the game, Popa said the Greyhounds’ failure to execute what they had planned heading into the game caused the final outcome.

“We had a game plan, and we stuck to it for most of the game,” Popa said. “But we made some mistakes, and we paid for those mistakes.”

The game against the Eagles marked the final collegiate game for both senior forward Sydney Weinert and Turner.

 

Turner finished her three-year UIndy career at 12th on the program’s all-time career scoring list with 1,275 points.  Weinert finished her career as a Greyhound with 108 blocks in 44 games, which  moved her up to fourth all-time on the program’s list.

Now that the season has ended, Popa said the coaching staff has to take some time and look at what type of players the team has for next season and the positions in which the team needs the most help.

“We’ve got a little ways to go, so we’ve got a little time to figure things out,” Popa said.

Looking at its losses on the roster, Popa said that the team is losing some very important players, and he hopes to add some more experienced players to next year’s squad.

“We are graduating a couple of players, and we are losing some of our scoring ability,” Popa said. “We definitely have to look to add some scoring power, as well as some athleticism and quickness.”

The Greyhounds finished their 2012-13 season with 19 wins for the second consecutive year while setting a new single-season program record with 181 blocked shots.

McIntosh said that looking back on this past season, the team had its share of ups and downs.

“To be a good team, you have to be consistent,” McIntosh said. “Hopefully next year, we come off strong, and we finish strong.”