WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Forester women’s basketball team took a break from league play to enjoy an 89-62 blowout over IU Northwest Wednesday evening at Platt Arena. HU has held a 3-1 upper hand over the RedHawks since their first meeting in 2017.

For IU Northwest, tonight’s loss was just their second of the season as they entered the contest with an 8-1 record, which included picking off #23 St. Francis (Ill.) by 15 points a week ago.

The guests spotted Maggard and crew an 11-0 advantage to start the game and was never able to recover. Konnor Gambrell sparked Huntington’s hot start by pouring in nine points in the opening quarter on the way to a 24-10 HU advantage by the first break.

The RedHawks didn’t have an answer for the 6-0 center all evening as she dominated the paint to the tune of 25 points and 14 rebounds for the double double.

The Foresters’ lead grew to 43-27 by halftime and after the third quarter, they had built a 71-39 cushion. The game’s biggest discrepancy came just over 60 seconds into the fourth after back-to-back triples by Gabi Melby and Laura Valiente-Marin for a 38-point spread of 77-39 before the final 27-point difference.

When all was said and done, 11 Foresters found their way into the scoring column with seven different players draining at least one from downtown. HU finished 10-for-20 from long range with Celeste Ryman canning three for nine points.

Ruby Bolon was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. The 6-0 sophomore had a banner night. She needed just six shots to post a career-best 13 points to go along with five boards. After being saddled with foul trouble in the first half, Melby scored ten of her 12 points in the final 20 minutes. Dazia Drake and Valiente-Marin each tossed in nine to round out HU’s balanced attack.

While it was Huntington’s best offensive output since a 90-51 win over Bethel in January of 2021, their defensive effort was also striking. The Foresters held IU Northwest ten points below their season average of 72 ppg, forcing their guests into 23 turnovers and 39.3 shooting (22-for-56).

Katelyn Halfacre came off the bench to tally 17 points for the RedHawks. Tiara Jackson finished with 12 points and ten rebounds while Karlie Miller registered ten points and a game-high five assists.

It’s the second straight win for the Foresters as they move to 5-7 on the year. Next up is a home matchup against #8 Marian on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.