NEW ALBANY, Ind. – The IU Southeast women's basketball team defeated Taylor 79-75 on Thursday.
Taylor held IU Southeast scoreless for the first four minutes but only held a 4-0 lead. Taylor extended their lead to five at 9-4.
IU Southeast scored four straight points to make it 9-8, but Taylor answered with four points of their own to make it 13-8. Taylor led by as many as seven in the first quarter and took an 18-13 lead into the second.
Taylor extended their lead to 10 at 25-15 early in the second quarter, but IU Southeast used a 15-3 run to flip the game in their favor at 30-28. With the score tied at 30-30, IU Southeast closed the half on an 8-3 run to take a 38-33 lead into halftime.
The Grenadiers shot 10-13 from the field and 5-7 from three in the second quarter.
Taylor opened the third quarter with seven straight points to take a 40-38 lead. IU Southeast answered back, tying the game at 42-42. Back-to-back threes by
Taylor Treat and
Jesse Ledgerwood gave IU Southeast a 48-44 advantage.
Taylor cut the lead to one, but IU Southeast used a 10-1 run to take a 58-48 lead. IU Southeast led 60-55 after three quarters.
Taylor cut the lead to one once more at 62-61. After a layup by
Lexi Starr made it 64-61, Taylor scored four points on one possession following a technical foul to take a 65-64 lead.
The teams traded one-point leads until four straight free throws gave Taylor a 71-68 lead with 2:21 left. A three-point play by
Jesse Ledgerwood tied the game at 71-71 with 1:53 left.
Taylor hit a layup with 1:38 remaining to go up 73-71, but a jumper by
Linzie Wernert tied the game at 73-73. A
Jesse Ledgerwood offensive rebound led to a
Grace Stapleton three to give IU Southeast a 76-73 lead with 45 seconds remaining.
Taylor missed a potential game tying three, and
Taylor Treat connected on one of two free throws to give IU Southeast a 77-73 lead with 23 seconds left. After another missed Taylor three, a layup by
Ella Brown gave the Grenadiers a 79-73 edge. IU Southeast would go on to win 79-75.
"Big win for our team tonight," IU Southeast interim head coach Derek Sims said. "We faced a ton of adversity and they never quit. I'm so proud of them! We played with some intensity on both ends and we finally shot the ball well. These ladies have been working extremely hard, haven't complained once, and it continues to pay off. We still need to work on playing defense without fouling. We're looking forward to the break. We'll have time to really work on these little things. We also need to be more consistent. We will need that consistency to carry over this Saturday against a good Ohio Christian team."
Jesse Ledgerwood led IU Southeast with 20 points and five assists.
Grace Stapleton had 19 points on a perfect 7-7 shooting and 3-3 from three.
Linzie Wernert filled the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.
Taylor Treat had eight points, a team-high five assists, and four rebounds.
Lexi Starr had eight points and a team-high six rebounds.
Karly Sweeney added eight points and four rebounds.
The Grenadiers shot 51.7 percent from the field and 52.6 percent (10-19) from three. The team went 9-11 on free throws.
IU Southeast returns to action on Saturday for a home contest against Ohio Christian.
