Box score
INDIANAPOLIS- In its toughest test to date, the second-ranked University of Indianapolis women’s basketball team overcame just its second double-digit deficit of the season before handing GLVC West division-leading Drury a 69-65 defeat at Nicoson Hall Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds trailed by 11 in the first half but held the visiting Lady Panthers to just 21 points after the break to extend their program-record win streak to 23.
The Drury Lady Panthers controlled the early going, as the host Greyhounds wouldn’t get on the board in the opening three minutes. UIndy hit just one of its first nine shots as the Panthers (18-6, 10-3 GLVC) jumped out to a 10-2 lead.
The Hounds went to work on the margin with back-to-back threes from
Katie Dewey (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) and
Jessica Canary (Coatesville, Ind./South Putnam), followed a conventional three-point play from
Katie Lyons (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) to cut it the four, but Drury used effective dribble penetration to keep the Hounds at arm’s length.
After the Drury lead reached a game-high 11 points with seven minutes left in the first half, the Greyhounds surged with a 13-2 run to knot it at 32 apiece. The rally featured four 3-pointers from the home team, including two from
Samantha Meissel (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute North).
Down three with the ball, the Hounds looked for the final shot of the half, but the Panthers garnered a steal and DU senior Lindsay Ballweg laid it up as time expired to give the visitors a 44-39 lead at the break.
As nation’s top 3-point shooting team, the Lady Panthers took just four shots from behind the arc in the opening half, instead relying on penetration to score 34 of their 44 first-half points in the paint. It marked just the second time the Hounds trailed at halftime all season, as Drury -- excluding two late ties -- led the entire first period.
Indianapolis knocked down its first three shots after intermission to take its first lead of the afternoon at 46-44. Two minutes later, Drury retook the lead at 49-48 and would slowly build a six-point edge.
With the Lady Panthers up 56-50 midway through the second half, UIndy scored seven straight to give itself a slight lead to start the stretch run.
Ballweg, D-II’s third-most accurate 3-point shooter, answered with a triple to quell the momentum before a Meissel bunny knotted it again at 59.
Two more ties came at 61 and 62 before Canary found Meissel down low for an easy deuce. Then, after a defensive stop, Meissel drained a rainbow three to give UIndy its largest lead with 55 seconds remaining.
The squads traded empty possessions before Ballweg hit her third 3-pointer of the day to make it 67-65 UIndy with just 19 ticks left.
UIndy missed the first half of a one-and-one to give the Panthers a chance, but after a Canary block and a Drury turnover, Dewey punctuated the win with a lay-up in the final seconds to give Indianapolis a key in-region win.
Meissel scored nine of the Greyhounds’ last 12 points to finish with a game-high 24 points. The all-region performer shot 10-for-15 from the floor while adding six rebounds and two blocks.
For the second straight game, Dewey came close to notching the program’s second-ever triple-double with 13 points, 10 boards and seven-assists. Canary amassed nine points, five assists and a season-high four blocks.
For Drury, Ballweg had a team-high 17 points, while fellow-senior Melanie Oliver, already the school’s all-time leader in career double-doubles, finished with 15 points and an impressive 22 rebounds.
UIndy’s historic regular season is nearing its end. With only four games remaining before the GLVC Tournament, the Greyhounds (23-0, 14-0) head south next week for a pair of divisional road games, starting with a meeting with the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers Thursday at 6:15 p.m. EST.
Note: UIndy trailed by double digits just one other time this season. On Dec. 3, then-20th-ranked Northern Kentucky had the Hounds down by 12 in the first half, though UIndy would ultimately go on to the 59-53 win.