WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The No. 12-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team got a pair of wins over the weekend at the West Palm Beach Invitational, hosted by Keiser University. Tech started off its trip to the Sunshine State with a 67-46 win over the host Seahawks Saturday afternoon before defeating St. Thomas University 78-62 Sunday evening on Massimino Court to extend its winning streak to six games.
Keiser Recap
Emma Tuominen had a game-high 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists while
Eileen Salisbury had 12 points and four rebounds.
Tech started off the game on a 9-0 run to force a timeout by the Seahawks that eventually spanned into a 20-9 lead at the end of the quarter. Both teams struggled offensively in the second with only 25 combined points. A 7-0 spurt from Tech pushed their lead to 33-13 with 4:10 left in the second half, but Keiser responded with an 8-0 run over the final 3:04 of the period to cut the deficit to 33-21 at the break.
The Warriors got their groove back in the third quarter with a 13-4 run to push the lead to 46-25 and never let the lead dip under 16 points for the rest of the period as they took a 53-36 advantage into the final quarter of play. The Orange and Black never let the Seahawks get closer than 18 points over the final 10 minutes of action and led by more than 20 over the final six minutes of the game.
St. Thomas Recap
Kyra Whitaker scored a season-best 26 points while going 5-7 from three-point range while
Erika Foy had 16 pois and 10 rebounds.
Taya Andrews scored 15 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
After a 3:16 scoring drought by both teams following an offensive outburst to start the game, Whitaker sank a pair of free throws to make it a 9-5 game and start a 15-3 run over the final 4:51 of the quarter to give Tech a 22-8 lead. The lone bucket by the Bobcats during the Tech run came off a three-pointer from Brooke Bogatz, who had a team-best 25 points on 10-23 shooting (5-9 3-pt FG).
The Bobcats roared back into the game with a 21-13 advantage over the second quarter as they shot 56.3% from the floor and cut the deficit down to 35-29 at the half thanks to a 6-1 run over the final 2:23 of the quarter.
Both teams were hot during the third quarter, with St. Thomas going 9-17 from the floor while the Warriors were a blistering 10-16 (62.5%) from the field and a perfect 5-5 from downtown. Whitaker stood above the field though with a 6-8 performance and a 4-4 mark from three-point range en route to 16 points in eight minutes of play. The Bobcats cut the deficit down to two points at five different points in the first seven minutes of the quarter, but the Warriors had an answer every time they got there and responded with a 14-4 run to end the period leading 61-49.
Tech shut the door on the Bobcats in the third as they did not allow them to get any closer than 12 points at the 7:24 mark as they ended their weekend excursion to the Sunshine State with a pair of wins.
Tech (15-1) ends the calendar year with a trip to Rochester University on New Years Eve. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from Garth Pleasant Arena.
