by (Winfield, Kansas) – The Haskell Indian Nations University Lady Indians basketball moved the program to (6-0) on the season after defeating the Southwestern Moundbuilders 72-53 in the Tara Patterson Memorial Classic tournament that was hosted by Southwestern.
Jenine Coriz (Cochiti Pueblo) was named the tournament MVP after having game highs in both games of the classic. On Friday against Sterling, Jenine had 20 points, 4 assists and 3 steals and versus the Moundbuilders she had 18 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Joining Jenine on the awards stand for the classic was Kortney Meat who was selected to the All-Tournament Team for the Lady Indians. Kortney had 10 points and 15 points in each game respectively, she also added 3 assist per game.
With this win the Lady Indians moved the program (6-0) for the first time in school history since Haskell moved to the NAIA for collegiate sports.
In the first game against Sterling on Friday, The Lady Indians and Sterling Warriors were neck and neck the first half with both teams shooting over 48% from the field to keep each other on their toes. Sterling went on a 7-3 run to chip away at the Haskell lead and make it a one possession game at the end of the half with the Indians still on top 41-38. Sterling came out the second half scoring on two consecutive plays to take back the lead early and make it a 42-41 game with the Lady Warriors in the lead. But, too many turnovers in the second half cost the Lady Warriors the lead with Haskell scoring 16 points off of turnovers to break away and defeat the Lady Warriors 91-67. Haskell’s offense in the first game was led by Jenine Coriz’s 20 points and freshman Lynnail Curley (Navajo), who had 16 points in her first official game with the Haskell program.
In the final game against the host Southwestern, Haskell and the Lady Builders were unable to get any offense going in the first three minutes of the game as they both combined for six points during that time. Haskell used an 18-7 run over the next nine minutes to take a 26-13 advantage at the 7:58 mark. Southwestern’s next possession was a 3-pointer that sparked a 9-3 spurt and brought the Lady Builders back to within five (29-24) with 4:10 remaining in the half. The teams traded a few buckets after that but that would be as close as Southwestern would get in the first half as Haskell closed the half on a 9-2 run, and held a 43-32 halftime lead.
To start the second half, Southwestern scored the first 10 points of the second half, and held the Indians scoreless for the first five minutes of the final period. Eventually Southwestern would play Haskell to a 48-48 tie at the 11:04 mark. But that was as close as the Lady Builders would get all night as the Lady Indians countered by scoring the next six points as part of a 14-4 run that gave the Indians a 62-52 lead with 4:48 yet to play as Haskell turned up the pressure, and ran away with the 19-point win. Haskell’s full-court pressure forced 18 turnovers, and the Indians limited Southwestern to a 31.4 percent shooting effort from the floor. Again, Jenine Coriz was the leading scorer at 18 points and Kortney Meat followed with 15 points of her own.
Next up for Haskell will be the third game of their seven game road trip against Baker University on Tuesday, November 18th at 7:00 PM in Baldwin, Kansas.
