The IU Indianapolis women’s basketball team hadn’t won in more than seven weeks. And yet, if you happened to sneak over to the Jungle for a Saturday afternoon game this weekend, you might have been surprised.
“We’re slowly bringing some people back, which is giving us new energy,” third-year head coach Kate Bruce said. “They’re just getting that game experience and carrying it over each game.”
Indeed, you can tell a lot from body language, and no part of the Jaguars appeared defeated after their recent struggles. From the opening jump, they were talking and swarming, invested and playing with an urgency and discipline that made you think they planned on earning their first conference win against Youngstown State.
The Jags gave up the game’s first basket and never trailed again, steadily growing a lead that finished at 65-50.
“I was really happy with our efforts,” Bruce said. “We were getting rebounds. We were executing the game plan.”
To Bruce’s point, the Jaguars out-rebounded the Penguins 38-26. Sophomore guard Nevaeh Foster and junior forward Faith Stinson led the way in that statistical category with 8 boards a piece and sophomore forward Alexa Hocevar added 7.
The 6-2 Stinson was also notable for her offensive performance. She came into the game averaging just over 10 points per contest but finished this one with 22 while shooting just under 73% from the field and 1 for 2 from the 3-point line.
“We have the roster where on any given day, we can have different players step up,” Bruce said.
About Stinson, specifically, Bruce added that “she was very patient around the rim and knocking down shots,” and that she also “saved a lot of baskets defensively” and “was diving after loose balls.”
In addition to her scoring and rebounding, Stinson blocked 4 shots while employing a defensive role that prioritized helping her teammates on drives rather than guarding Penguin bigs from mid-range.
Meanwhile, Youngstown State struggled to find an offensive rhythm for most of the afternoon. Their leading scorer on the season, senior Jewel Watkins, only scored 9 points in the game on 1-for-5 shooting from the 3-point line.
The Penguins scored more (17) in the fourth than in any other quarter, desperately trying to make a run, but the closest they could get was 12 on a couple different occasions.
As for IU Indianapolis, having only played four home games so far this season, and having already played the league’s first, third, fifth, and sixth place teams, the schedule may get slightly more favorable in the upcoming weeks.
