LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---In front of a crowd of 1,024 people, the Bellarmine University women's basketball team upset the visiting Indianapolis Greyhounds 86-67 on Saturday in a crucial Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.
With the win Bellarmine (12-11, 6-9 GLVC) trails Kentucky Wesleyan and St. Joseph's by just one game for the right to host a first round game in the upcoming conference tournament. Indianapolis (16-7, 10-5 GLVC) falls for the second time this week after losing at Northern Kentucky on Thursday night. The 19-point loss is the largest for the Greyhounds dating back to last January.
“Picking up a win in convincing fashion over a great like Indianapolis is a huge deal for us going down the stretch,” said Coach David Smith. “After the injury problems we've had, I think we are finally 100% healthy and believing that we can play with anyone in this league.”
The game was tight in the early going as neither team could take an advantage, there were six ties in the game's first ten minutes. With the score tied at 22 though, Bellarmine would go on 18-7 run over the next five minutes to build an 11 point lead at 40-29.
Late in the first half, UIndy would cut into the lead, partly thanks to a pair of technical fouls on Bellarmine, as the Greyhounds scored the final eight points of the half to trim the Knights lead to 44-38 at the half. The halftime advantage was in large part due to 12 first half points off the bench from sophomore guard
Kylee Hamilton.
Bellarmine would slowly extend their lead out to as many as 21 points in the second half as UIndy could never amount a serious comeback. With the lead in hand, Coach Smith would clear his bench as the Knights would go on to win 86-67.
Kylie Brady would lead all scorers with 21 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists, compared to just one turnover. Hamilton finished the game with a season-high 18 points as senior
Allison Matheis had 12 and
Therese Montano pitched in 11. Junior guard
Betsy Goodin, getting her second consecutive start in the game, came away with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to record her first career double-double.
In response to Goodin's performance, “There are not a lot of people in our league that have the athleticism that Betsy has, she can make a move to the basket that defenders just aren't ready for. She played a heck of a game for us tonight.”
Led by Goodin's charge, the Knights controlled the battle of the boards, outrebounding UIndy 44-26 which resulted in a 16-0 Bellarmine advantage in second chance points. The Greyhounds could only manage four offensive rebounds on the night.
“We did a phenomenal job on the glass tonight,” commented Smith. “Good things are going to happen when you hold an advantage like that.”
For the second straight game Bellarmine faced one of the conference's best scorers as UIndy's Kristin Turner leads the GLVC in scoring, averaging 18.2 ppg. And for the second consecutive game the Bellarmine defense stifled the potent scorer as Turner went 3-12 from the field and finished with 12 points. Turner has reached double figures in all but two of UIndy's games and she went for 36 points on Thursday night against NKU.
Katy McIntosh's 18 points led the Greyhounds' effort, also receiving 12 points and eight rebounds from Eliza Wortman.
The Knights continue their home stretch next week as the travel to Southern Indiana on Thursday before hosting Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday for Homecoming.
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