WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

In a game that felt far more like March than early February, the #RV Huntington women’s basketball team gutted out a 76-74 double overtime win over #RV Indiana Wesleyan Wednesday night inside a spirited Luckey Arena.

The victory marked several milestones for the Foresters. It was the first overtime contest of the season (for IWU too), wrapped up HU’s first regular-season sweep of the Wildcats since 2019-20 and delivered Coach Darby Maggard her first career win inside Luckey Arena.

Huntington improves to 17-6 overall and 9-4 in Crossroads League play, sitting fourth in the standings with five regular-season games remaining — just one game out of third and two games clear of fifth-place IWU (13-10, 7-6).

From the opening tip, the energy inside Luckey Arena matched the stakes as both squads came ready to battle. The first quarter was a track meet. Both teams knocked down four triples in the opening 10 minutes, but Huntington made the difference at the free-throw line and finished one more field goal to take a 27-20 lead after one.

The second quarter, however, swung sharply in Indiana Wesleyan’s favor. HU struggled to find rhythm offensively, managing just three points in the frame, as the Wildcats flipped a seven-point deficit into a 38-30 advantage heading into halftime. The Foresters responded with force coming out of the locker room to right their wrong. Huntington erased the deficit in just four minutes, knotting the score at 40-40, then took complete control of the third quarter. The visitors outscored IWU 10-2 over the final six minutes of the period to carry a 50-42 lead into the final ten minutes of regulation.

What followed was a fourth-quarter slugfest. Ninety seconds into the frame, the Wildcats had cut it to a two-point game, and neither team led by more than one possession the rest of regulation. With the score tied 59-59 and 27 seconds remaining, Huntington executed a beautifully drawn-up inbounds play that resulted in a backdoor cut and layup by Kyndell Jochim with five seconds to go. Indiana Wesleyan answered immediately, converting a give-and-go on its own inbounds play with three seconds left to force the game’s ninth tie and another overtime.

The Wildcats struck first in the extra period, scoring seven unanswered points, but a steady and calm HU crew never panicked. Four different Foresters scored over the final three minutes of the first OT while holding IWU to just three points down the stretch, sending the game to a second overtime.

Scoring was at a premium in the second extra session, but Liv Raby’s dominant work in the paint on the opening possession gave HU a lead it would not relinquish. The Foresters led wire-to-wire in the final five minutes, with Kyndra Sheets going a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to ice the game.

Sheets was the picture of composure, playing the entire 50 minutes while facing constant full-court pressure. She finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, calmly directing traffic when it mattered most.

Huntington shot an efficient 56.5 percent from the field, went 19-for-23 at the free-throw line and won the rebounding battle 32-26. Raby led all Foresters with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting while adding eight rebounds. Annaka Nelson was nearly flawless, scoring 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including three triples. Addie Shank delivered a monster effort inside with 16 points and 13 rebounds, anchoring HU on the glass. Jochim chipped in seven key points, including the clutch basket late in regulation and the tying bucket in the first OT.

Indiana Wesleyan was paced by Ayla Krygier, who poured in a game-high 40 points on 16-of-31 shooting. Koryn Greiwe added eight points off the bench, while Emily Mattingly finished with seven. The Wildcats shot 40.3 percent from the floor but were held to just 25.7 percent from three-point range.

The Foresters return to Platt Arena on Saturday to host Bethel at 1:00 p.m. where they will look to avenge a 68-62 loss to the Pilots last month.