Hadassah Hurt
Trailing by 12 points at halftime Wednesday evening, IU Columbus knew it could play better than it had been playing.
So the Crimson Pride picked things up a notch in the second half and rallied for a 67-57 River States Conference women’s basketball win against Oakland City at Nexus Park.
“We definitely had to turn up our energy,” said Columbus North graduate Hadassah Hurt, who scored a game-high 18 points. “I think our defensive effort was a lot better in the second half, and we definitely got more rebounds.”
IUC (5-16, 3-6) led 29-28 on a basket by Abby Fleetwood with 6:54 left in the first half. The Oaks (2-19, 1-8) then held the Crimson Pride scoreless the rest of the half, going on a 13-0 run to take a 41-29 lead into the break.
“The halftime speech was a little more aggressive, but it was in a way that let them know they are capable of doing what they’re capable of doing if they lock in and focus,” IUC coach James Adams said.
“Overall, I think we just worked harder and listened to coach Adams and what he told us to work on,” added another North grad, Emma Beaver, who just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Crimson Pride did have two players record double-doubles. Fleetwood finished with with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Morgan Montgomery added 10 points and 13 rebounds.
“We just turned up the energy,” Fleetwood said. “We started working the ball more, and we started reacting faster on defense, too.”
“I think it was an intensity thing,” Montgomery added. “We had to pick up our intensity going into the second half. I think we started comfortable, and then as we started to progress throughout the game, we started to pick up our intensity and hit easy shots and just do things we know that we can do instead of making hard passes.”
Point guard Amaya Collins had 15 points, giving IUC five starters in double-figures.
“It’s just nice to see our team really come together, and it wasn’t just two people,” Fleetwood said. “Two of us had a double-double, we had five people in double digits, so that’s just a great thing to see, especially coming off what we had last year.”
Hurt’s 18 points came on six 3-pointers. Five of those came in the last quarter-and-a-half.
“I think it was just finding rhythm shots, but props to my teammates for finding me,” Hurt said. “When they drive and kick, it’s just wide open.”
“Hadassah has been struggling a little bit, but the kid can shoot the ball,” Adams added. “When she’s in rhythm and she has lots of confidence, we know that she can hit, so I’m really happy that she was able to open up the game for us in that third quarter and fourth quarter. That was a huge difference.”
The Crimson Pride outscored Oakland City 38-16 in the second half.
“I think we just found each other better,” Beaver said. “We were open, and we passed the ball and saw each other and played better defense and just made more open baskets.”
IUC was coming off a 121-66 loss to Rio Grande Friday and had not been able to practice since then because of the winter storm.
“We had a shootaround earlier today, but (Oakland City has) a gym,” Adams said. “They could practice for the last four or five days, so they came in aggressive. I just told the ladies, ‘Just lock in, do what we do control what we can control and just stay focused.”
The Crimson Pride were scheduled to play Thursday at Alice Lloyd, but that game has been canceled. IUC will visit IU East Saturday and will host Brescia Tuesday before hosting West Virginia Tech for senior day Feb. 7.
