Overcoming a slow start and an early 13-point deficit, the Indiana University Northwest Redhawks women's basketball team (4-1) battled back and held off a furious charge to defeat Bethel College 66-63 Wednesday night at IUN’s Savannah Center.
The victory marked head coach Ryan Shelton’s 102nd victory, on the night he was honored for reaching the 100 victory milestone in a 74-51 victory over Trinity Christian on November 1.
Bethel’s aggressive style rattled the Redhawks (3-2) from the opening tip which saw them fall behind 15-2. From there, IUN asserted themselves inside, led by Megan Holland (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Danielle Zandstra (11 points, 9 rebounds).
The pair aggressively posted up inside, creating layup opportunities and driving Bethel (3-4) into foul trouble. “Our coach told us to go post up inside because they weren’t all that tall,” Zandstra said. “We had more advantage there.” Defensively, the Redhawk duo led the rebounding and shot blocking effort to take away Bethel shot opportunities. Zandstra rejected 6 Bethel shots, while IUN outrebounded the Pilots 45-39.
IUN lead at halftime 41-37. In the second half, the Redhawks’ inside presence led for plenty of 3-point opportunities, and Brianne Wischman took advantage. The senior sharpshooter nailed 3 consecutive three-pointers to run the Redhawk lead to 62-53. She shot 4-7 from the arc for 12 total points. “We just kind of figured it out for ourselves that they (Bethel) would all come down on Megan,” Wischman said. “As soon as they all started clogging it in there, we told her to start kicking it out everytime.”
“Bri saved our butts,” Shelton said. “She’s always there for us. She’s clutch. I can’t say enough about how big she was tonight for us.”
A 10-4 Bethel run in the final lead closed the gap to 66-63 Redhawks with 17.3 seconds left. After a missed Nikki Monahan (6 points) free throw, Bethel missed on three 3-three point attempts. Zandstra blocked the last one and the deflected the loose ball as time expired.