Box score
ST. LOUIS, Mo.- Down four with 90 seconds remaining, Heather Gonser and Kristin Turner hit back-to-back 3-pointers to lift the UIndy women’s basketball team (16-12) past arch-rival Northern Kentucky Friday night, 61-57. The win advances the Greyhounds to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament semifinals for the third time in four years.
With the Greyhounds enduring a four-minute field goal drought late in the game, the Norse (18-10) managed to score on consecutive possessions to earn a 57-53 edge with just 1:36 to go.
After a UIndy timeout, Turner buried a triple from the top of the key to pull the Hounds within one, and after a defensive stop, Gonser did the same to put UIndy up for good.
"I am proud of our overall effort," said Head Coach LeAnn Freeland. "Our ladies have been practicing and playing with a lot of enthusiasm and determination lately, and it showed late in the game tonight. The game was back and forth the entire way, but we kept fighting for 40 minutes."
A back-and-forth it was, as the teams battled to 13 ties and a whopping 26 lead changes. The second half alone featured 15 lead changes, as neither team led by more than five points at any point.
The contest marked the third time this year that the two GLVC-East rivals hooked up, with the first two also producing low point totals. The Norse came into the Saturday’s game ranked fourth in Division II in points allowed per game, and as expected, the defensive pressure was evident from both squads from the get-go. Turnovers plagued the first half as a result, with the teams evenly combining for 20 miscues in the first 20 minutes alone.
In the final possession of the half, junior Cayla Keegan pulled up and drained a 15-footer before the clock expired to make it 29-28 Norse at the break.
After shooting a combined 10-for-39 (.256) from 3-point range in the first two games versus NKU this season, the Greyhounds made an assertive effort to work the ball inside. They finished the half with only two 3-point attempts, as all but two of their first-half points came inside the paint or at the line.
The deliberate play continued after the break. Both teams momentarily lost key players early in the second, as Norse inside-threat Kendra Caldwall and UIndy point guard Katy McIntosh were each forced to sit after picking up their third personal foul.
Seconds later, the Greyhounds managed to earn their first lead in seven-plus minutes of action. A steal by Gonser led to a lay-up by her sister Nickole to put the Hounds in front 33-32 at the 16:42 mark.
The see-saw action picked up again from that point. Neither team could manage a lead of more than a deuce until NKU’s aforementioned and short-lived four-point advantage in the final two minutes.
Three Greyhounds finished in double figures, with a team-high 12 points coming from freshman Diana Jovanovic. Turner and McIntosh each chipped in 10 points, while Heather Gonser amassed nine points, six rebounds and five steals. Freshman Eliza Wortman garnered a season-high 16 minutes of court time, adding four point and two blocks.
NKU junior and first team all-conference performer Casse Mogan led all players with 24 points.
UIndy’s reward is a meeting with the top-seeded and 13th-ranked Quincy Lady Hawks (25-2) tomorrow. Saturday’s second semifinal match-up is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. EST, following Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis at 7 p.m. The Greyhounds fell 95-85 at Quincy back in early January.