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INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 5 UIndy women's basketball team (6-1) endured its first loss of the season Friday evening, as No. 1-ranked Ashland exited Nicoson Hall with a 70-54 win. The Eagles (11-0) doubled the Greyhounds' rebounding total with a 50-25 advantage on the boards.

The top-five adversaries finished with nearly identical field goal percentages (Ashland 41.5%, UIndy 39.0%), but the visitors used 20 offensive rebounds to compile 18 second-chance points compared to just four from the Hounds.
 
Junior Katy McIntosh led the way for UIndy with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals.
 
Facing the 2012 Division II player of the year in senior Kari Daugherty, UIndy gave the Eagles a number of defensive looks, including a box-and-one to start the game.  But despite being held without a shot for the first seven minutes and missing 14 field goal attempts on the night, Daugherty finished with a game-high 24 points to go with 13 rebounds and two blocks.
 
Meanwhile, her frontcourt mate Daiva Gerbac added 16 points and 17 rebounds.
 
After UIndy jumped out to a quick 5-0 advantage, the Eagles scored 10 of the game's next 14 points to seize the lead and maintain it for the balance of the half.
 
Ashland went on to a build 34-24 edge at the break and led by as many as 15 early in the second, but the tenacious Greyhounds battled back.  UIndy whittled it down to five midway through the second half when back-to-back layups by Kirsten Gliesmann helped make it a two-possession game.
 
But with the score 57-50 with 7:23 to go, the Hounds managed just four points the rest of the way, allowing the Eagles to pull away for the in-region win.
 
Joining McIntosh in double figures was senior Kristin Turner, who chipped in 13 points and eight assists.  Sophomore-sub Carly Lythjohan played nearly the entire second half, with much of it spent applying quality defense on Daugherty.
 
The Greyhounds have 16 days off until their next action.  UIndy travels to the Upper Peninsula to face Michigan Tech Dec. 30.  The Hounds are visiting the Huskies after blasting them 79-52 in Nicoson Hall last season.