Keller scores 20, grabs 11 rebounds in loss

The Lady RedHawks defense was the biggest reason they held a 33-29 lead at the half, it was also the biggest factor in a 83-71 loss to Holy Cross (Notre Dame, IN) on Tuesday at the IU Northwest Savannah Center. Turnovers, poor shooting and inconsistent plagued IU Northwest throughout the night, however it was the defense surrendering 54 second half points proved to be the pivotal factor.Holy Cross raced by the RedHawks who fell to 13-9 on the season. The RedHawks were led by sophomore guard Juliette Keller who scored a team high 20 and pulled down a career high 11 rebounds and Justine Jones who added 14 points and 7 rebounds despite battling a severe cold.

Freshman Vicky Campos making her first collegiate start sparked the RedHawks in the first half with 10 first half points and before fin with 13. Campos hit a long three at the first half buzzer to extend the IU Northwest lead to 4. The balanced RedHawks scoring placed 4 players in doubly figures with Ish Shah Terry also adding 11, however Holy Cross took advantage of 19 RedHawk turnovers that led to several easy scoring opportunities. RedHawks turnovers led to Holy Cross scoring the first 7 points of the second half and gaining the momentum in the second half that would carry them to the win. The Saints also got hot from the arc in the second half connecting on 7-12 3 points shots after not making a single trey (0-7) in the first half.

Following the game IU Northwest Head Coach Ryan Shelton had these thoughts, "This was a game that we should have won, we're a young team that hasn't quite figured out how to close out games and play consistently for 40 minutes. Most of the games we have lost this year we have had the lead at the half and although we tend to start strong, we can't seem to finish in the same manner. We have to get tougher. Vicky really gave us a spark tonight, this game should be a good confidence builder for her."

The RedHawks were unable to finish consistently around the basket and take advantage of 17 offensive rebounds. IU Northwest shot just 33% (25-75) from the floor for the game, 24% (6-25) from the arc and 60% (15-25) from the line. Baysia Cox led Holy Cross with 22 points and 9 rebounds. The RedHawks travel to IU South bend for a Thursday matchup beginning at 7pm EST.