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No. 23 IWU slips past HU women

Huntington University point guard Maddie Richer drives past Jene'e Goodwin of Indiana Wesleyan University on the baseline in action Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2, at Platt Arena. The Foresters lost to the No. 23 Wildcats, 60-59.
Huntington University point guard Maddie Richer drives past Jene'e Goodwin of Indiana Wesleyan University on the baseline in action Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2, at Platt Arena. The Foresters lost to the No. 23 Wildcats, 60-59. Photo by Steve Clark.

The Huntington University women’s basketball team got edged by visiting Indiana Wesleyan University, 60-59, on Saturday, Dec. 2.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with the Crossroads League rivals playing to four deadlocks before the end buzzer. After the second of those ties, a 52-52 knot at the 4:59 mark, junior Brooke Saylor scored to give Huntington the lead, but 23rd-ranked Indiana Wesleyan countered with a three-pointer by Katie Key and a basket by Nicole Ignasiak to go in front, 57-54, with 3:34 remaining.

Sophomore Sarah Fryman cut into that margin with a bucket in the paint at the 2:31 mark. After the squads exchanged turnovers and the Wildcats’ Jene’e Goodwin misfired, Ignasiak blocked a scoring attempt by Saylor, who came away with the rebound and drew a foul from Ignasiak. Saylor hit the second of the two free throws to stalemate the game at 57-57 with 56 seconds left. Indiana Wesleyan retook the lead with a bucket by Ignasiak, but Saylor tied the game right back up with a score in the paint, set up by freshman Sam Hammel.

The Wildcats took the lead for good, however, when Ignasiak drew a foul from Hammel with nine ticks on the clock and hit one of the two freebie tries. The visitors’ Carly Lange blocked a would-be game-winner by Fryman with one second remaining before senior Hailey Krewald misfired from beyond the arc to end the game.

The loss snaps an eight-game win streak by the Foresters, who slip to 8-2, 2-1 in Crossroads League action.

Coach Lori Culler’s squad led 18-17 after the first quarter, 32-26 by halftime and 47-41 at the end of three periods before the frenetic final frame.

Krewald paced Huntington with 15 points and seven rebounds. Fryman tallied 14 points and junior Casey Morton supplied 11 while Saylor chipped in 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Hammel helped facilitate the scoring with seven assists.

Behind Saylor and Krewald’s efforts on the glass, the Foresters outrebounded the Wildcats, 37-31.

Huntington went 22 of 57 from the field for 38.6 percent and 5 of 9 at the charity stripe for 55.6 percent.

Indiana Wesleyan, 9-2, 3-0 in league play, got 23 points and 10 boards from Ignasiak. Goodwin and Key finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Brittany Washington dished out 10 assists.

The Wildcats converted 24 of 55 field goal attempts for 43.6 percent and 4 of 6 freebie tries for 66.7 percent.