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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - As it does many times in college basketball, the third time proved to be a charm for the University of Indianapolis women Friday night. For one half, at least. The second half, though, belonged to Northern Kentucky University. And the charm of the opening half turned into a familiar curse for Indianapolis during the final 20 minutes. NKU rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half and held on for a 55-54 victory over Indianapolis in the first round of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament in Weiser Gym. The fourth-seeded Norse stormed back with a 35-15 run after falling behind by a 35-20 score early in the second half. NKU improved to 23-8 and advanced to meet top-seeded Drury in the regional semifinals Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Indianapolis, which dropped a pair of games to NKU during the regular season, finished with a 22-8 record. It marked the eighth consecutive time NKU has beaten Indianapolis. The Greyhounds had not defeated the Norse since Dec. 2, 2004, when Indianapolis posted a 61-58 win over NKU. Indianapolis jumped out to a 26-10 lead in the first half and appeared on the way to snapping its streak of losses against NKU. The Norse made just 21.7 percent of their shots from the field in the first half and trailed 33-20 at the break. "Indianapolis seemed to make every shot early in the game, and I did not think we were playing defense at a high level," NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. "We talked about it at halftime, and I told the players that a 13-point deficit isn't impossible to overcome. We were lethargic in the first half, and Indianapolis made us pay by jumping all over us. They are an excellent team, and Jessica Canary really made some great shots for them. "But I also thought we did not fold and hung tough. That allowed us to make some adjustments, and we made our run in the second half." Indianapolis scored the first basket of the second half to take a 35-20 lead, and that's when NKU responded in big-time fashion. Angela Healy keyed an 11-2 run with seven points as the Norse crept back to within six points (37-31) with 14:59 left on the clock.
With Indianapolis holding a 44-36 lead and 9:10 remaining, Danyelle Echoles took over with her outside shooting. The junior guard from Colerain High School drained a trio of 3-pointers during the next four minutes. Her final trey cut the Indianapolis lead to 50-49 with 4:36 left. "My team needs me to shoot it if I'm open, and I just have to stay confident with my shot," Echoles said. "That's the kind of mentality I need to have, and the shots were there against the defense. My teammates did a great job of finding me open, and the shots felt good." NKU capped an 11-0 run with three straight baskets by Jessie Slack, Cassie Brannen and Healy to take a 55-50 lead with 2:11 remaining. Indianapolis countered by making four consecutive free throws to pull within 55-54 with 49 seconds left, and the Greyhounds later took possession after a shot-clock violation by NKU. Indianapolis had a final chance to win in the closing seconds, but Isabell Rhenwrick missed a driving layup and Healy grabbed the rebound. Echoles was fouled and missed the front end of the bonus with 2.4 seconds left, but she rebounded her own miss and time expired. Healy scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead NKU, which held Indianapolis to 5-for-26 shooting (19.2 percent) from the field in the second half. Brannen added 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, while Nicole Chiodi scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds. Canary finished with 18 points to lead Indianapolis, while Karla Mast added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Next for NKU is Drury, which posted an 80-70 win over Bellarmine on Friday night. The Lady Panthers have beaten NKU three consecutive times, including twice this season. The latest was a 71-67 victory over the Norse last Sunday in the championship game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in Weiser Gym. A year ago, Drury eliminated NKU from the GLVC Tournament during the semifinals at Evansville, Ind.
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