WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Saturday marked the HU women’s basketball team’s 14th annual Pink Out game at Platt Arena where the Cougars of Saint Francis (13-8, 7-5) got the best of their hosts 58-52. It was the first time the Foresters have lost their Pink Out game since its inception in 2009.

Will Covid-19 limited the day’s typical festivities for the second straight year, HU was still able to honor breast cancer survivor Rita McCabe before the game by presenting a $500 check to the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer in her name.

The Foresters got off to a solid start by enjoying a lead through the first eight minutes in large part thanks to Erica Zook who slashed her way through lane for a trio of layups to position her team in front by as many as five early on. HU clung to a 13-12 lead before USF rattled off six straight points in the final 90 seconds of the quarter for a 17-13 advantage.

A second-quarter Huntington slump allowed the guests to add to their lead by seven for a 31-20 halftime difference. HU got back to work in the third to trim it to four twice, the first, 35-31, on a Ruby Bolon three that barely grazed the net and the second on another long ball, this time by Celeste Ryman, at the 2:35 mark that cut it to 38-34.

By quarter’s end, the Foresters had made up five points for a 44-38 USF lead heading into the final ten minutes.

Ryman drained her second triple of the afternoon :30 seconds into the fourth to slice the lead in half at 44-41. It was the Dazia Drake show after that as the 5-10 junior went off for HU’s next eight points to keep her team within three points of the Cougars.

A pair of Konnor Gambrell free throws with just over three minutes remaining made it a two-point contest at 53-51. With the game up for grabs, neither team scored a field goal the rest of the way with the difference coming at the charity stripe where USF went 5-for-10 while HU went 1-for-2.

In addition to the overall free throw disparity that saw the Cougars get to the line 28 times to HU’s 18, offensive rebounding also had a drastic effect on the outcome as USF outscored HU 17-2 in second chance points.

Gambrell poured in a game-high 17 points which included going 9-for-10 from the line. Drake finished with ten points. She also dished out a game-best four assists and snagged six boards to share team-high rebounding honors with Alli Vaughn and Bolon. Zook chipped in ten points and posted four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Cassidy Crawford scored 15 points to lead USF. Meleah Kunkel finished with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

HU (3-19, 1-10) heads to #11 IWU on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off with the Wildcats.