Wed., Feb. 18, 2009

   HUNTINGTON, Ind. -- After fighting to a halftime tie and a final tie through the first eight minutes of the second half, turnovers and poor shooting finally caught up to the University of Saint Francis and the 16th-ranked Huntington University Foresters prevailed 60-46 on Wednesday night.
    The Foresters outscored USF 35-21 in the second half and limited the Lady Cougars to 32 percent shooting in the second half.
    USF fell behind early 10-2 when HU ran off an 8-0 surge, but the Lady Cougars (15-14, 8-7 MCC) outscored the Foresters (20-6, 11-4 MCC) 14-4 to take a 16-14 lead on Marie Kaufmann's short jumper. Jamika Banks, who finished with her ninth double-double in the last 10 games, converted a 3-point play extending the USF lead to 19-14 with 6:24 to play in the half.
   There were four ties in the time remaining and three lead changes, but after Osborne tied the game at 25 with 2:04 to play in the half, neither team scored again.
   HU vaulted to a 32-28 lead early in the second half, but USF fought back from a 36-31 deficit to tie the game on a Kaufmann basket at 36 with just over 11 minutes to play. It was the only basket in the second half for the MCC's leading scorer and HU outscored the Lady Cougars 24-10 in the final 11 minutes to secure the Foresters' 13th win in 14 home games this season. Banks hit a 3-pointer cutting the HU lead to 44-39, but USF only managed seven more points the rest of the way.
   Banks was 2-for-4 from 3-point range and was the only Lady Cougar to crack double figure scoring finishing with 18 points. She also snagged 12 rebounds. Kaufmann, who scored six points in the first half, finished with eight.
  "None of our guards stepped up and took charge, took care of the ball, but you can't say enough about the way Jamika played," USF coach Gary Andrews said. "She's been our best player the last 10 games and you could see she wanted the ball more than Marie in the second half. We've got to play some girls out of their best position and against an athletic, physical team like Huntington, it is more obvious."
   USF committed 26 total turnovers, 16 in the second half. Combined with 7-for-22 second half shooting, it was too much for the Lady Cougars to overcome.
   USF concludes regular season play with 'Senior Day' on Saturday, Feb. 21 against 13th-ranked Bethel College at 1 p.m. at Hutzell Athletic Center.