Women’s basketball (17-17) advanced to the Super 16 of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament with a 61-58 victory over the University of Southern Indiana on Monday.
After defeating the Bradley University Braves at home in the first round of the WNIT, the Revolutionaries used a dominant fourth quarter to soar past the Screaming Eagles, outscoring their opponent 21-11 in the final frame to advance to the third round. Leading the way offensively for the Revs was sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds, who nearly tied her season-high in points with 26 on 7-9 from the field and 6-8 from deep.
Junior forward Sara Lewis added a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds and junior forward Kamari Sims had 11.
The first quarter saw the teams trade baskets, with Lewis giving the Revs an early 6-4 lead at the 7:28 mark after grabbing a rebound and putting it back up. But minutes later, Indiana redshirt sophomore guard Kylee Dennis gave the Screaming Eagles their first lead of the game with 3:18 to go on a three-pointer.
The three from Denis kickstarted a 10-0 run for USI, capped off by a three from junior guard/forward Sophia Loden. Reynolds would end the run when her bid from deep found nylon with 15 seconds to go. Still, the Revs trailed 16-10 after 10 minutes.
The Screaming Eagles increased their lead to 10 again two and a half minutes in, leading 22-12. Toward the end of the first half, the Revs started to get back into the contest, as freshman guard Mia James scored five points in just under a minute, cutting her team’s deficit to 27-21 with just under a minute to go — a margin that would hold heading into the second half.
Quickly, the Revs cut the deficit to just a point on a pair of threes from Reynolds, leading to Lewis giving the Revs their first lead since the opening frame on a layup out of a timeout. But the Revs were unable to increase their lead to more than one point as their point flurry kick-started another Screaming Eagles outburst. With 2:49 to go in the third, the Revs trailed 43-36.
Still, the stingy Revs’ defense kept the Screaming Eagles from extending their lead into double figures, allowing the Revs to get into a rhythm on offense. That would pay dividends, as GW only trailed 47-40 at the end of 30 minutes.
Entering what could be the final frame of Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan’s first season as the Revs’ bench boss, James found Reynolds for another three 35 seconds in and the latter was fouled on another three attempt, hitting all three free throws to trail 47-46 with just over eight minutes remaining.
With 4:01 to go and the Revs down 49-48, Sims was fouled and hit both shots to take a 50-49 lead. USI’s freshman forward/center Channah Gannon immediately responded to give the Screaming Eagles a lead, but on the ensuing possession, she fouled Sims, who hit both shots from the charity stripe to take a 52-51 advantage with 3:14 on the clock.
Now with 1:24 to go and the score even at 52, Lewis found paydirt to retake the lead. After an early in the shot-clock miss from USI, Reynolds hit her season-high sixth three-pointer to bring the score to 57-52 with 42 seconds left.
After more defensive stands, Lewis and Reynolds combined for four free-throw makes to send the Revs to the Super 16 and keep the Revs’ dancing.
Up next, the Revs will host fellow Atlantic 10 member Loyola Chicago on Friday night at 6 p.m. at the Smith Center.
