By Tom Ramstetter HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Junior guard Jessica Canary scored a career-high 33 points Saturday evening and her Indianapolis team upset third-seeded Quincy in an NCAA Division II Midwest regional semifinal at The Bank Of Kentucky Center at Northern Kentucky University. The Greyhounds (24-9) have knocked off Top 10 teams in consecutive nights and will meet Michigan Technological University Monday at 7 p.m. at NKU for a berth in the Elite 8. It will be the first trip to the regional final for the Indianapolis program. Quincy (27-5) was the No. 9 team in the USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches’ poll. The seventh-seeded and unranked Greyhounds had beaten No. 3 Hillsdale Friday. “We’re really excited about this win,” Indy coach LeAnn Freeland said. “They found a way to beat us twice earlier this year and to have the opportunity to avenge those losses was very exciting for our ladies. We’re really excited to have the opportunity to go to the regional championship. It’s the first time in school history, so that’s pretty exciting for our team.” Canary followed up a game-winning shot Friday with the career-high performance Saturday. The junior gave her team the lead for good, 58-57, with a 3-pointer with 6:54 remaining in the game. Canary was 10-for-13 from the field and made 5 of 6 3-pointers. She also hit 8 of 12 free throws. “After hitting a couple of them, you get in a rhythm, it feels good,” Canary said of her 3-pointers. “If you’re open you got to take it.” Moments before Canary’s go-ahead basket, Quincy had a 55-51 lead. That’s when Canary scored 10 straight points. She tied the game at 55-55 after a technical foul on Quincy coach J.D. Gravina. “It definitely changed the momentum,” sophomore center Samantha Meissel said of the technical. “You could tell Quincy was frustrated and we just had to build on their frustration to better our offense.” Quincy went ahead 57-55 when senior guard Jessica Keller hit a layup, but Canary hit her go-ahead basket on the following possession and followed with another trey 50 seconds later to start a 15-0 run, blowing the game open. “I’m proud of her,” Meissel said of Canary. “As soon as she started knocking down open threes it’s pretty much get the ball to Jess. Somebody’s hot, you got to get them the ball.” That 15-0 run put Quincy in a position Indy found itself in Friday, down several points in the closing minutes. After the Greyhounds rallied to win that game, they weren’t about to let up Saturday. “It’s in the back of my mind, of course,” Freeland said. “In an NCAA Tournament anything can happen, especially when you have a player like Jessica Keller, who wants it so badly. So I knew the game wasn’t going to be over until the buzzer sounded. We had one timeout and I was trying to save it. I thought our ladies did a nice job taking care of the basketball with their full-court pressure when they were coming at us.” Meissel added 14 points for Indy and Cayla Keegan scored 11. Keller led Quincy with 26 points and Janette Burgin added 10 for the Hawks. |