Nov. 17, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - The Western Kentucky women's basketball team held in for the first 25 minutes, but Indiana was able to pull away and knock off the Lady Toppers 85-70 in the consolation game of the Stanford Invitational Tournament Saturday night.
IU (1-1) was able to score on its opening possession, taking a 3-0 lead on a three by Erin McGinnis, but the Lady Toppers (0-2) came back with a jumper by Kristina Covington (Jr., Elizabethtown, Ky.) to make it a 3-2 game one minute in. Indiana scored the next six points to jump out to a 9-2 advantage on two free throws by McGinnis with 15:18 to play. Western then went on a run of its own, outscoring the Hoosiers 9-2 over the next 1:52 to tie the game at 11-11 on a steal and layup by Camryn Whitaker (So., Cynthiana, Ky.) at the 13:26 mark. However, the Lady Toppers were unable to gain an advantage as Indiana built its lead to a half-high nine points at 24-15 on free throws by Heather Cassady with 8:33 remaining. Western outscored the Hoosiers 14-6 the final 8:33, pulling within a point at 30-29 on a layup by Shala Reese (Jr., Easton, Texas) with 33 seconds left, but Cassady hit a running layup at the buzzer to give the Hoosiers a 32-29 advantage going onto the intermission. Covington led the Lady Topperswith nine points at the half, tying McGinnis for high-scoring honors. The Hoosiers took advantage of their chances at the free throw line in the opening half, connecting on 11 of 12 chances.
Western came out firing at the start of the second half, tying the game at 32-32 12 seconds in on a three by Covington. After two missed opportunities by the Hoosiers, Western gained its first lead of the game when a Covington layup gave the Lady Toppers a 34-32 lead at the 19:11 mark. After trading baskets, IU took the lead for good when two Cassady free throws gave the Hoosiers a 38-37 lead with 16:40 to play. That sparked a 16-7 run over the next 4:34, taking a 54-44 lead free throws by Jamie Gathing at the 11:06 mark. Western would not be able to cut the Indiana lead under 10 points the rest of the game, reaching a long lead of 18 points with 25 seconds remaining on a layup by Gathing. But the Lady Toppers got a three by Leslie Logsdon (So., Munfordville, Ky.) with nine seconds left for the final score of 85-70.
Cassady led all scorers in the contest with 24 points and five assists, while McGinnis had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Logsdon led the Lady Toppers with 19 points, and was four-for-six from behind the three-point line. Covington and Reese also scored in double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
WKU will play its home opener on Wednesday (Nov. 21) against No. 3 Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. (CST) in the 19th annual Area Bank Classic.
-- WKU --
