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ROMEOVILLE, Ill.- Junior
Kristin Turner poured in 25 points for the UIndy women's basketball team (14-4, 8-2 GLVC), as the Greyhounds notched a 82-59 win at Lewis Thursday night. The Hounds shot 56-percent from the field and avenged their loss to the Flyers in last year's GLVC Tournament final.
Lewis (4-14, 2-8) started the night well, matching the division-leading Greyhounds point-for-point through the early going. The lead changed 12 times in the first six minutes, as the Flyers hit six of their first 10 field goal attempts to help earn a slim 15-14 edge at the 14-minute mark.
The Hounds found the gas pedal from that point, however, orchestrating a game-altering 20-2 run to take control. The visitors fueled the surge with extremely effective dribble penetration and a good inside-out game.
Meanwhile, the UIndy defense held Lewis to zero field goals for upwards of 10 minutes, compounding the problem for the Flyers and putting them in a deep hole.
UIndy's first-half lead topped out at 19 before the score settled at 42-26 at the break. Twenty-eight points of the Hounds' tally came in the paint, contributing to a healthy .607 field goal percentage in the first.
“We definitely looked inside a lot more than in the past couple of games,” noted Head Coach
Constantin Popa, “but that's what we try to do at times. We look for certain situations that we can take advantage of, and this game was a little more of an inside game.”
Individually, junior
Nickole Gonser (pictured) hit all six of her shots and finished the opening 20 minutes with 13 points.
The Flyers looked to shake things up by switching to zone to open the second half. Though the move may have suppressed UIndy's penetration, it also opened up some jump-shot opportunities.
The Greyhounds took advantage by nailing 4-of-7 attempts from behind the arc in the first eight minutes of the second, with Turner and
Megan Gardner accounting for two apiece.
The young Lewis squad kept a high effort level even after falling behind by 25. The Flyers managed a 12-2 run to cut it to 15 with 4:43 left, but a couple buckets from the Hounds squashed any potential momentum and kept the home team from getting any closer.
All five UIndy starters scored at least nine points, drawing the approval of Coach Popa.
“We have a lot of players that can score,” said the first-year head man. “We can balance the floor really well and tonight we were able to spread the wealth a little bit, and everybody that came off the bench gave us some good minutes.
“That's what you want to see. It's a team game. We're going to keep playing as a team and keep getting better as a team.”
UIndy's starting front-court tandem of Gonser and
Sydney Weinert combined for 27 points on 13-for-15 shooting.
Katy McIntosh chipped in 13 points, while Gardner contributed nine points, four assists and two steals.
The Greyhounds return to Nicoson Hall Saturday afternoon to host Wisconsin-Parkside at 1 p.m. The Rangers are one of two GLVC squads who will enter the weekend a single game back of UIndy in the East Division standings.