Second Half Leads Indiana To Road Win At Northern Kentucky

Saturday, December 9

Highland Heights, KY

7 p.m.

Indiana University

6-4

Northern Kentucky

1-7

Indiana

Northern Kentucky

Second Half Leads Indiana To Road Win At Northern Kentucky

12/9/2017 9:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Indiana Women's Basketball used a strong second half to get past Northern Kentucky, 67-56, on Saturday night at BB&T Arena.

Senior guard Tyra Buss led all scorers with 25 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist. Two other Hoosiers scored in double figures with senior forward Amanda Cahill and junior forward Kym Royster each chipping in 12 points. Cahill narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds to go along with three assists while Royster added two blocks.

Freshman guard Bendu Yeaney also contributed six points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals as Indiana outscored Northern Kentucky, 43-31, in the second half. The Hoosiers (6-4) used a 53.8 percent clip in the fourth quarter to help its shooting percentage to 42.9 percent on the night and overcome a one-point halftime deficit. IU would also narrowly win the rebounding margin, 37-34, and showed improvement from the free throw line by going 23-for-29 (79.3 percent).

Opening up the game, Cahill took it to the rim after a pair at the line from Buss while building a four-point lead. But going without a field goal for the final 5:34 of the quarter, Indiana found itself trailing 9-8 after one complete.

The second quarter began on a 6-0 run on a pair of buckets from Royster and a transition layup from freshman guard Jaelynn Penn to take a 14-9 lead. But NKU would tie things up with 6:18 to play before Buss countered with a triple from the left side and pushed its lead to as many as five with 2:28 to play on a feed from the baseline by Wickware into Royster. But IU wouldn't hit another field goal as the Norse would push ahead into the break leading, 25-24.

In the third, the lead would exchange teams three times and feature four ties as IU quickly tied it up out of the half with one at the line from Royster. The game was all knotted up at 30-all with a steal and transition layup from Buss with 6:02 remaining. Northern Kentucky would go without a field goal for a four-minute stretch midway through the third quarter as Indiana used the bonus to get ahead late. A floater by Yeaney and a triple by Cahill would also help push IU's lead up to five, 42-37, going in to the final period.

It was another run for the Hoosiers that proved big, a 6-0 run as a freshman guard Linsey Marchese block led to transition by Buss who was fouled and drained two at the line less than a minute in. Cahill comes to the free throw line and hits all net on the way down as NKU called timeout with 8:33 remaining.

Building its largest lead of the night, the Hoosiers used three-consecutive buckets from Cahill, Yeaney and Buss to go up 56-40 with 5:55 left and forcing a NKU timeout. The Norse (1-7) would briefly get the lead back down to single digits with 1:37 remaining, but IU would put the game away by going 8-for-8 from the line in the final minute.

UP NEXT
The Hoosiers will break for finals week before hitting the court again next Sunday, Dec. 17 against Missouri at the West Palm Invite in West Palm Beach, Fla.

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