OAKLAND CITY, Ind. – After a week off from their loss at Lewis last week, the UIndy women's basketball team was back in action Saturday afternoon. The Hounds traveled down to Oakland City in Southern Indiana to face the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City. The Hounds rebounded nicely from their close loss last week, topping the Mighty Oaks, 103-74.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UIndy got off to a fast start and never looked back. UIndy jumped out to the early 8-0 lead until the Oaks got their first points of the game. The Hounds came right back down the floor when Claire Carlton buried her first three-pointer of the year to give UIndy the 11-2 lead. The Hounds kept their foot on the gas throughout the quarter, leading by as much as 22 before the final possessions, OCU got a layup to go in with seven seconds to go, UIndy came down the floor quickly when Katie Sowa sank a three as time expired, giving UIndy the 36-13 lead after the first period. The second quarter brought much of the same for UIndy, the Hounds led by 27 at one point, the Oaks kept trying to work their way back. The Oaks had a 7-0 run in the second, but UIndy ended the run, and took a 19-point lead into the break. The Hounds shot over 54% from the field in the first half, never surrendering the lead.
 
The Hounds kept up the momentum in the third quarter, extending their lead to 27 yet again on the Oaks. The quarter saw Katie Sowa and Laura Thomas get into double figures in scoring and Emma Benoit pull down her 10th rebound giving Benoit her second double-double of the season. Coach Wodrich gave her reserves minutes in the fourth quarter since the Hounds were ahead comfortably late. Sowa, Liz Alsot, Taylor Dillard, and Alexa Bailey came with over five minutes to go for UIndy. Bailey finished with two points, five assists, two steals, and a rebound in her season debut. The Hounds closed out the game with their reserves, topping the Oaks by 29 on their home court.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-UIndy set two-program highs in points on the afternoon. The 36-point first quarter is the most in program history, topping the previous record of 33 points set last month vs. Tiffin. The 103-point is the first 100+ point game under Coach Wodrich, 13 more points than previous record of 90 points in a game they also set against Tiffin.
-Katie Sowa's career-day of 25 points on nine-of-12 shooting (five-of-eight from beyond the arc) is the most points scored by a UIndy freshman since Taylor Drury went for 25 points twice last season, her last coming against William Jewell on 2/17.
-Emma Benoit logged her second double-double of the season Saturday afternoon, joining Drury and Martha Burse as the only Greyhounds with multiple double-doubles in the last two seasons.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Kristin Wodrich on Katie Sowa's game, "she did a good job of looking for her shot and being in the right places in transition. In the first half we got some really easy buckets in transition and she ran the floor really well. I was really proud of her today."
 
Wodrich on her team's 42 bench points, "they did a really nice job, they came in and did what we asked them too, and they hit free throws for us which is huge. Katie and Liza both had big games for us and that is what we need from them. We are confident when we put them in and that is a huge boost for us."
 
Wodrich on Oakland City's defensive adjustments in the second and third quarters, "they started trapping our ball screens and pressuring us and we got taken off-guard by it. We started turning the ball over and finished with 19 turnovers, you cannot do that ever, win or lose. 19 turnovers is a lot, they pressured us and we settled in and did much better against that in the fourth quarter."
 
Wodrich on UIndy's defense, "we had 20 fouls, we put them on the foul line too much. We gave up 74 points, 74 points is a lot of points, and we would like to keep them to 60 or lower. We just have to be more committed on the defensive end, but I am going to learn from a win any day."