INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Indianapolis women's basketball team was plagued by a tough day shooting the ball in Saturday's 54-51 loss to the Bearcats of McKendree University.
 
UIndy shot just 36.4 percent (16-for-44) from the floor and 5-for-23 from long range in defeat. Princess German led all players with 17 points and Nicole Anderson finished with 11 for the Greyhounds, who dropped to 5-14 on the year and 3-6 in the GLVC.
 
Kacey Johnson had 13 points and Kelsee Ennis chipped in with 10 for the Bearcats, who improved to 9-10 on the year, 4-5 in GLVC play and notched their first ever win in the head-to-head series with the Greyhounds.
 
"We just couldn't find ways to generate enough offense tonight, bottom line," Head coach Constantin Popa said. "It was nice to see our team battle back after being down double figures late in the game, but we didn't play with enough urgency throughout the game and that's how you put yourself in those holes. We constantly tell our team we need to come out and be ready to go for 40 minutes but we do have some positives we can take out of this as we get ready to head back out on the road next weekend."
 
The Greyhounds generated all their offense inside in the first quarter, getting buckets from Nicole Anderson, Ashley Montanez and Emily Thomas to tie the game at eight at the five minute mark. However, that was all the offense the Hounds would get as McKendree closed out the first on a 9-0 run to make it 17-8 after 10 minutes of play.
 
Four straight points from German to open the second quarter cut the deficit to 17-12 with 8:25 left, but the Hounds couldn't buy a bucket for the next three minutes, allowing the Bearcats to go on an 8-0 run and stretch the lead to double figures. When the halftime horn sounded, the Greyhounds found themselves trailing 31-21 at the break after shooting just 8-for-24 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
 
A Montanez layup at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter cut the McKendree lead to 36-30 but the Hounds just couldn't break through on the offensive end while the Bearcats used an 11-2 run before the end of the period to take a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Just as they had done two nights ago, the Greyhounds began to make a charge when the final 10 minutes began. UIndy allowed just one field goal in the final quarter and pulled to within three at 49-46 after a pair of Anderson free throws with 2:48 to play. Following two Bearcat free throws, Tina Negoescu brought the Hounds within a pair following a deep three pointer with 1:12 to play.
 
But the Hounds couldn't get the tying bucket to fall, missing their final two field goals, including Negoescu's buzzer-beating three that would have tied the game.
 
The Greyhounds held the Bearcats to just 38 field goal attempts, a season low for any UIndy opponent, but McKendree knocked down 18 of those shots, good for 47.4 percent. The Bearcats also had a slight edge in the rebounding battle, grabbing 26 boards to 24 for UIndy.
 
The Hounds held a 19-16 advantage in the turnover battle, cashing in for 18 points off McKendree mistakes.
 
Next up for the Hounds is a trip to Evansville, Ind. on Thursday, Jan. 28 for a showdown with the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana. Tip-off from the Physical Activities Center is set for 6:15 p.m. eastern time.