WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Huntington University women’s basketball coach Lori Culler reached a significant milestone Saturday afternoon in her team’s 76-65 win over IU Southeast (4-1). The hard-fought victory was Culler’s 600th career win. She currently sits atop the NAIA as the winningest active coach in all of Division II.

After playing within a point of the Grenadiers in each of the first three quarters, the #RV Foresters (6-1) spent the final ten minutes distancing themselves from their visitors to turn a mostly one-possession contest into an 11-point W. It’s HU’s third straight double-digit win and their seventh consecutive win over IUSE.

Sarah Fryman, Alaina Rongos and Sam Hammel were the difference makers in the fourth. The opposition always has to be aware of where Fryman is and never was that more obvious than in the final quarter. In addition to posting six points, she also found Rongos on three different occasions to keep the defense guessing.

Rongos was also a handful for IUSE as the rookie forward was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor in the quarter which included three baseline jumpers, all of which saw nothing but the bottom of the net.

Hammel was the third force to be reckoned with. In addition to handing out two dimes, the 5-6 floor general went coast-to-coast for an easy lay-in early in the fourth before nailing a triple with the shot clock winding down at the 2:17 mark. It was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

The trio combined to score 21 of their team’s 25 fourth quarter points. At the other end of the floor, Huntington held the Grenadiers to just five field goals on 29.4 percent shooting in the final ten minutes.

After four ties and five lead changes, the first frame saw HU take a 31-30 advantage into intermission. The break served IUSE well as they came out of the half with new life to take their largest lead of the day, 48-41, by the midway point of the third quarter.

While it looked like the Foresters were running on fumes, they still found a way to rip off seven straight points – a bucket by Rongos, two freebies by Fryman and a much-needed three by Jade Clement – to knot things up at 48-48 with 90 seconds left in the quarter. The scoreboard read 51-51 at the final break. The rest was history.

Fryman finished with a game-best 24 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. In addition to sharing game-high assists and steals with Fryman, Hammel also dropped in a season-high 14 points and collected a game-best and career-tying 12 boards for the double double.

Rongos established a new career-high by netting 20 points. She also corralled six rebounds.

Madi Woods led three Grenadiers in double digits with 15 points. Hannah Coleman and Gabrielle Read added 12 and ten points respectively.

Next up for Culler and crew is a matchup with #RV Aquinas on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.