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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Carly Lythjohan's jumper from the left baseline came up short and sixth-seeded UIndy fell to the three seed, Kentucky Wesleyan, 64-63, in the quarterfinals of the Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament at the Ford Center.
After trailing by seven, 58-51, with 6:05 remaining, the Greyhounds (19-9) mounted a rally.
Kristin Turner scored her only points of the second half on a drive and then
Katy McIntosh converted two free throws. The Panthers (20-7) stayed up five, but then McIntosh found
Eliza Wortman for a jumper on the right baseline to cut the lead to three, 60-57.
UIndy forced a stop and then tied the score as Turner drove the lane and kicked into the left corner for
Dajana Jovanovic to hit a game-tying three-pointer, 60-60, with 3:17 to go for the Greyhounds' only triple of the second half.
The Greyhounds had a chance to regain the lead, but couldn't convert and KWC came back to go back up, 62-60, with 2:18 left. Both teams had empty possessions and then Turner missed a floater, but Wortman secured the offensive rebound. After a timeout, McIntosh drove the right side of the lane and banked in a runner, while being fouled. She converted the free throw with 38.5 seconds left to put UIndy in front, 63-62.
UIndy couldn't get the stop on the following possession as Lauren Goffinet was fouled by Lythjohan attempting a pull-up jumper on the right baseline. She converted both freebies to put the Panthers back in front, 64-63, with 24.8 seconds left.
The Hounds had the final possession, but were never able to get inside the three-point line before finding Lythjohan for the contested 17-footer before time expired.
"You've got to learn how to finish the game," head coach
Constantin Popa said. "You've got to have people step up and take the lead at times. We didn't quite find that leader in the second half of the game."
Turner led all players with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Wortman tied her career high with 15 points and team-high eight rebounds. McIntosh added 13 points and four assists, but also had seven of UIndy's 17 turnovers.
The Greyhounds shot 47 percent (24-51) and limited the Panthers to 39.4 percent (26-66). UIndy also was better at the free throw line making 12-of-15 to 5-of-8 for KWC. KWC countered by making 7-of-19 three-pointers to 3-of-13 for UIndy. They also had nine less turnovers (8) and out-scored the Greyhounds 13-10 in second-chance points.
"We just couldn't figure stuff out on the floor," Popa said. "The whole season we've had to use players at different positions that they weren't used to due to injuries. Give Kentucky Wesleyan credit. They picked us up full court and were a little more physical than we were. We just turned the ball over too many times. That's what hurt us. You're not going to win a whole lot of games with 17 turnovers."
KWC had five players between nine and 12 points, led by Goffinet with 12 points and six rebounds. Bianca Barton added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists before fouling out.
The early going was all UIndy as the Greyhounds jumped to an 18-3 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The Greyhounds had assists on their first seven baskets and then capped the run as McIntosh drove the lane for the lay-in with 16:06 to play. UIndy continued to pull away and took a 17-point lead, 23-6, when Turner broke full court pressure by herself to convert a lay-up and the ensuing free throw after the foul.
The was still 16, 27-11, after
Kirsten Gliesmann hit a hook shot on the right baseline with 9:32 to play when the Panthers started to come back. They ended the final 9:19 of the half on a 27-11 run and tied the game at halftime as T'Essence Phelps hit a short baseline jumper at the buzzer, 38-38.
"They picked us up full court. It's that simple," Popa said. "We weren't able to handle their pressure. You've got to be able to handle pressure and unfortunately we were not able to handle it today."
UIndy shot 53.6 percent (15-28) overall, but just 2-of-8 behind the arc, while the Panthers made 5-of-13 three-pointers on the way to 16-of-36 (.444) shooting. UIndy committed eight turnovers that led to nine KWC points and allowed six offensive rebounds that led to nine more points for the Panthers.
The Greyhounds will anxiously wait for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com. UIndy was eighth in the final regional rankings on Wednesday. The tournament champions from the GLVC and GLIAC will receive automatic bids and then the next six highest-ranked teams receive at-large bids to the regional that will be hosted by the top-seeded team beginning on March 15.