Bloomington Leader

Fourth Quarter Flurry Not Enough as Midway Defeats IU Southeast 88-75

The IU Southeast women's basketball team fell to Midway 88-75 in the team's final RSC regular season game on Thursday.

Midway scored the first seven points of the game to take a quick 7-0 lead. Trailing 9-3, IU Southeast cut the lead to two at 9-7 and later at 11-9. Back-to-back threes by Midway extended their lead to 17-9.

Sierra Graham hit a three for the Grenadiers, but Midway responded with a layup to take a 19-12 lead. Sierra Graham and Emmy Ralph hit back-to-back threes to bring IU Southeast within one at 19-18. An Alex Maher layup gave the Grenadiers a 20-19 lead heading into the second quarter.

A Karly Sweeney three extended the IU Southeast lead to 23-19. After a Midway basket, Brynna Blackburn hit a three to extend the lead to five, but Midway hit a three to cut the Grenadier advantage back to two at 26-24.

A Midway layup later in the quarter tied the game at 28-28, but Alex Maher hit back-to-back layups to give IU Southeast a four-point edge. Midway hit a three to make it 34-31 later in the quarter, but IU Southeast rattled off seven straight points to take a 41-31 lead. The Grenadiers led 43-37 at the half.

The third quarter was dominated by Midway's Dezeree White. A Sierra Graham layup made it 45-41 IU Southeast, but Dezeree White scored six straight to give the Eagles a 47-45 lead. Emmy Ralph answered with a three to make it 48-47 Grenadiers.

Midway hit four free throws in the next two possessions to take a 51-48 lead. A layup gave the Eagles a 53-48 advantage, but Brynna Blackburn hit a three to cut the lead back to two. Dezeree White hit a jumper on three straight possessions to extend the Midway lead to eight at 59-51.

Back-to-back layups by IU Southeast cut the Midway lead to four, but Dezeree White hit another jumper to bring her third quarter total to 18 points. The Eagles took a 63-55 lead into the fourth quarter.

Midway started the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run to extend their lead to 19 points with six minutes remaining. IU Southeast upped their defensive pressure and scored 12 straight points of their own to cut the Midway lead to seven at 76-69.

Midway hit a massive three to extend their lead back to 10 at 79-69. Back-to-back baskets by IU Southeast narrowed the deficit to six with 1:20 remaining. Midway missed two free throws on the ensuing possession, but the Eagles were able to grab the offensive rebound. Midway used free throws down the stretch to pull away and defeat IU Southeast 88-75.

Emmy Ralph led the Grenadiers with 25 points. Sierra Graham hit two big threes in route to a 12 point, five rebound performance. Lauren Lambdin was the third Grenadier in double figures, scoring 10 points. Alex Maher scored six points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Leah Miller dished out a team-high five assists, and Karly Sweeney added a team-high four steals.

Original source can be found here.