HU comes up short in 75-60 battle with #7 IWU

MARION, Ind. – Luckey Arena only seems lucky for the home team and Wednesday that proved true in a 75-60 battle that favored #7 Indiana Wesleyan (19-3) over the Foresters. The Wildcats have lost just five games on their home turf in the last three seasons.

Tonight's win is IWU's second over HU this year as they continue to sit atop the league with an 11-1 record. With this loss, Huntington drops to 8-14 overall which includes a 3-9 CL record.

Maggard and crew led throughout the entire first quarter which included a 17-10 advantage after the opening five minutes. The difference was 19-15 at the first break and after bouncing the lead back and forth five times throughout the next seven minutes, the hosts took over permanently at 28-27 with three minutes left in the half.

IWU closed out the frame on a 9-3 run to extend the advantage to seven at 37-30 by the midway point. Most impressive about HU's first half performance was their accuracy from deep. Of the guests' ten field goals, eight came from beyond the arc with Emily Seboe leading the charge with three. Alli Vaughn and Celeste Ryman tossed in two apiece while Dazia Drake hit the other one. As a team, the Foresters took just 13 threes in the opening 20 minutes to record a sizzling 61.5 percent from the cheap seats.

The third quarter saw Huntington struggle offensively to be outscored by ten but the Foresters bounced back to be the aggressors in the fourth. While their grit was notable, the pay-off wasn't as extreme as Maggard and crew would have hoped. HU found their way to the line 17 times in the final ten minutes but could only convert seven attempts to leave them wondering what could have been.

Jenessa Hasty had herself a day for the visitors. Playing in her backyard, the 5-6 senior from Oak Hill High School came off the bench to toss in a career-best 11 points, all in the second half. While her two steals don't do it justice, her toughness on the defensive end was just as impressive.

Other double-digit scorers for HU included Vaughn with 15 and Seboe with 12. The pair also grabbed six boards each to share team-high rebounding honors.

Lilli Frasure scored 13 of IWU's first 15 points on the way to pouring in a game-best 25 points. Kelli Damman finished with 14 while Jade Nutley chipped in 11. Jordan Reid corralled a game-leading eight rebounds.

The Foresters return to Platt Arena to host Bethel on Saturday for their annual Pink Out game. Tip-off is 1:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 125 NAIA All-America honors and 449 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.