INDIANAPOLIS – In front of their largest home crowd all season, the UIndy women's basketball team played host to long-time rival Bellarmine Saturday night. After a tightly-contested first half, the Knights held on in the final minute to the game by a score of 65-57.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter was full of action as both teams came out energized at UIndy's annual Pack the House night. The Greyhounds led the way after the first quarter by a score of 15-14. The Hounds were very efficient from the field, shooting over 63% in the opening frame while holding Bellarmine to seven-for-21 shooting. The second quarter saw the Knights shoot much better from the field, shooting 46% from in the period, upping their first half percentage to 38.9%. UIndy made their first long ball of the game in the period when Katie Sowa nailed a triple with two minutes to go in the half. Bellarmine had a shot at the final shot in the half but UIndy's defense held strong and only trailed the Knights by a score of 28-26 going into the break.
 
Bellarmine tried to keep extending their lead in the third quarter but were unable to shake the Greyhounds. UIndy hung tough with the Knights, eventually taking the lead on a pair of Laura Thomas free throws four minutes into the half and holding on to the lead the remainder of the quarter. The Hounds led by as many as six in the quarter after Katie Sowa buried another three just before the quarter ended and UIndy took a 43-47 lead into the final period. Sowa stayed hot from beyond the arc, nailing her first two three's in the final quarter as the Hounds led by seven. Bellarmine came right back with a three of their own and followed that up with a layup to cut the UIndy lead to two, forcing a quick Greyhound timeout. The Knights took the lead with three minutes to go and did not look back, UIndy tried to make a last-game push but came up short, falling 65-57.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-UIndy shot 48.5% from the field against Bellarmine, their highest-field goal percentage in any GLVC game this season.
-The Greyhounds kept the Knights off the free throw line, only allowing them three trips to the line. Bellarmine's six free throw attempts is the second-fewest free throw attempts UIndy has allowed this season (Tiffin had four free throws on November 25)
-Laura Thomas finished with a game-high 25, her second-most points in a game this season. Thomas has now scored 20 or more in two of her last three games.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Kristin Wodrich on tonight's game, "offensively we played well, but we just did not rebound the ball like we needed to. Losing Emma [Benoit] was hard because she has been such a good player for us this year, but it happens sometimes and it's next girl up. It is not about one person, we have to rally and come back stronger. We need to take better care of the basketball and if we can do that better Thursday the game will be better."
 
UP NEXT
The Hounds stay home for their final home stand of the week next week. Up first for the Greyhounds is the Maryville Saints on Thursday at 5:30 pm.