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Free-throw gods favor HU women at end in win over IU Northwest

The free-throw gods finished the game on the side of the Huntington University women’s basketball team in a 57-55 win over host IU Northwest.

After fighting back from a first-half deficit of 11 points, HU, 9-3, was up by three points after missing a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left, but  Northwest’s Gina Rubino  couldn’t knock down the three free throws she needed to for a tie as time expired.

HU didn’t take the lead for good in the contest until Maddie Richer found nothing but the bottom of the net from three-point land. Brooke Saylor scored twice after that, with her final tally coming at the 1:16 mark.

Casey Morton led HU with 13points, Sarah Fryman added 12 and Saylor notched 11 in addition to tying, for the second time within a week, the school record with 21 rebounds.

Jayla Crump had 13 points to lead Northwest, 6-7. Cloe Salman and Alexis Blake added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

HU started the contest looking just like a team that had finished a three-hour bus ride as it coughed up the rock 10 times and managed just nine points through the first quarter. HU went to the long ball in the second quarter, however, and wound up with a 33-31 lead at the half.

HU hit 21 of 51 shots from the field for 41.2 percent and 5 of 9 free throw tries for 55.6 percent. The Red Hawks hit 14 of 54 shots from the field for 25.9 percent and 21 of 27 shots from the stripe for 77.8 percent.