WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The #22 Indiana Tech Warriors were too much for the Forester women’s basketball team Tuesday night in a lopsided 77-50 affair at the Schaefer Center.

Since 2005, these two teams have squared off 14 times with HU enjoying a 9-5 tilt which includes last year’s season opener when they picked off the Warriors, ranked 3rd at the time, 79-77 in overtime.

Unfortunately, tonight’s season opener looked much different than a year ago much to the dismay of Culler and crew. The Warriors used the final 90 seconds of the first quarter to string together six straight points to turn a three-point advantage into a 23-14 lead by the first break. It was the start of the end for the visitors as they went stone cold for another six minutes.

Tech took full advantage to stretch their lead to 36-14. Sam Vaughn finally broke the drought with a layup at the 3:49 mark of the second quarter after which she and her teammates played within a few points of their hosts, but the damage was already done. The hosts took a 47-24 lead into intermission and never let Huntington get any closer than 20 points the rest of the way.

While the Warriors laid claim to most of the statistical categories, most notably points in the paint (48-30) and fast break points (17-6), the Foresters corralled 20 of their own missed shots to the tune of 14 second chance points compared to just six points for the hosts. Vaughn led the charge by tracking down five offensive rebounds on the way to securing a game-tying eight rebounds. The 5-7 point guard also added 11 points, four assists and three steals.

Alaina Rongos finished with 16 points to lead the Foresters. Sophomore transfer Konnor Gambrell, in her collegiate debut, was a spark off the bench. The 6-0 center scored nine points in eight minutes in addition to grabbing three offensive boards and a steal.

The Warriors landed four players in double-digits with Erika Foy dropping in 16 points. Kyra Whitaker and Alexis Hill added 15 points each while Bethany Worm chipped in 11.

Huntington (0-1) hits the road again on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with Cornerstone.