FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 11-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team fell to their crosstown rivals and No. 13-ranked University of Saint Francis, 61-60, Tuesday afternoon on the final day of 2019 inside the Schaefer Center.
Emma Wolfe led all players with a season-high 21 points, going 6-11 from downtown, while
DeAnn Kauffman had 15 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
Alexis Hill and
Kyra Whitaker each chipped in eight points, with the former grabbing five rebounds.
Rachel Bell dished out eight assists while
Emma Tuominen had six rebounds.
The matchup between the two teams separated by just four miles came down to the final seconds of the contest. With the Cougars holding a 55-49 lead with 5:41 to play in the game, the Warriors came roaring back with a 9-2 run over the next five minutes, with Wolfe hitting the go-ahead three pointer and 38 seconds to play. Saint Francis came back to take the lead with 9.7 seconds on the clock after Lauren McBryar hit a pair of free throws to make it a 59-58 game.
The Warriors trip down the floor saw Whitaker get fouled on a drive to the basket and the sophomore guard calmly hit both free throws to give Tech a 60-59 advantage with 4.3 to play in what appeared to be a come from behind victory, but McBryar was able to drive down the right side of the lane and convert a contested layup for the game-winner with 0.8 on the clock and drew a foul. McBryar missed the free throw to make it a two-point lead for the visitors and while the Warriors were able to get a final shot off at the buzzer, it came up just short and the Cougars came away with the hard-fought 61-60 victory.
USF controlled the action in the beginning as they led by as many as nine points in the defensive struggle, with that lead coming in the first quarter. Finding themselves trailing 20-13 at the end of the period, Tech turned up the defensive intensity in the second and limited USF to just four points in the period, but were only able to score seven points and faced a 24-20 lead at the half.
The Orange and Black were able to gather some momentum in the third quarter with 21 points on 6-14 shooting, including 5-9 from behind the three point line. A triple from Wolfe knotted the game up at 28 with 6:47 to play in the third while a shot from downtown by Whitaker gave the hosts their first lead of the game at 31-10 two possessions later. Back-to-back triples from Wolfe helped the Warriors grew their lead to 37-32 and 4:01 on the clock, their largest of the game. The Cougars battled back though to tie the game up at 41 at the end of the third quarter.
Tech (11-4) returns to action on Saturday, January 4 with a visit from the University of Northwestern Ohio as they get back into conference action. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.
