WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU women’s basketball team wrapped up a three-game homestand with a 67-51 win over Oakland City Tuesday night to improve to 2-1 on the season.

After the lead swapped back-and-forth seven times through the opening five minutes, it was Celeste Ryman’s long two that gave the hosts a lead that stuck at 12-11. It sparked a 13-2 run that spilled into the second quarter and featured a pair of freebies and back-to-back buckets in the paint by Maddy Robrock for a 24-14 advantage with eight minutes left in the half.

The Foresters rode out the frame to carry a 34-23 lead into intermission. After dropping in six points from the line in the opening 20 minutes, Emily Seboe spent the third quarter adding another nine points to her total to give her team some breathing room for an 18-point spread of 56-38 heading into the final quarter.

The fourth proved the only stanza the Mighty Oaks outscored HU, just by two points, to make for an uneventful ending that saw the Foresters cruise to the 16-point victory. For the game, HU shot 41.5 percent from the field (22-for-53) and knocked down 94.1 of their freebies by canning 16 of their 17 attempts.

Seboe topped all scorers with 18 points which included draining two from downtown and going a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. The 5-11 forward also posted game-high rebounding honors with nine in addition to collecting four assists and two steals.

Three other Huntington starters in Robrock (12), Ryman (11) and Alli Vaughn (11) also landed in double digits. Additionally, Ryman dished out four assists while Robrock tallied five steals. Jenessa Hasty sparked Culler’s crew off the bench by tossing in four points and filling the stat sheet with five boards, three steals and two assists.

The Mighty Oaks were paced by Taylor Dillard, Kiare Young, Emilee Hope and Tabby Kiem who each chipped in eight points.

While Culler and crew were thrilled with the W, it was more than just a night of basketball in Platt Arena as the Foresters teamed up with the men’s team for a blackout to help fight human trafficking. Along with Northwestern Mutual, the two programs raised over $2,500 for Destiny Rescue, a non-for-profit organization committed to rescuing and restoring underage children trapped in prostitution.

The Foresters are off until Saturday when they travel to IU Northwest for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off with the RedHawks.