RICHMOND, Ind. – The Madonna Crusaders Women's Basketball team traveled to Richmond, Ind. to participate in the First Bank Richmond Classic - hosted by Indiana University - East. The Crusader's first game of the weekend was against the host Red Wolves. 

The game went Madonna's way for most of it as the Crusaders won three out of four quarters. In the second half, the Red Wolves tried to mount a comeback, but the Crusaders did not give up the lead.

The Crusaders finished out the second game of the season with a win by the score of 78-70. The Blue and Gold are now 1-1 on the early season. While the Red Wolves begin their season at 0-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The first four minutes of the game was even at six, but the Crusaders turned it on as they outscored the Red Wolves 14-5 to finish out the quarter. Naomi Davis and Hannah Reinhold went on a tear in the quarter as they combined for all 16 points in the quarter.
• The second quarter once again swung towards the Crusaders as they outscored the Red Wolves 27-17. The Crusaders went on a 10-2 run in two minutes as they saw their lead increase to as many as 20 points. The Crusaders went into the half with the lead by a score of 47-28.
• The third quarter went the way of the Red Wolves as this was the only quarter that they outscored the Crusaders in. The Blue and Golds lead shrunk to as low as 2. 
• The offense picked it back up in the final period as they were able to keep pace with the Red Wolves offense and work its way back out to a comfortable lead for the rest of the game. Reinhold scored the first 14 points of the quarter while Sydney Brown and Claire LeRoux were able to hit the free throws at the end of the game to seal the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• 5: Reinhold had a career day as she grabbed six rebounds to go along with a career-high 33 points
• 57: The Blue and Gold as a team brought down 57 total rebounds including 16 offensive rebounds and 41 defensive rebounds
• 44: The Crusaders were pounding the paint as they scored 44 points in the paint over the course of the game. On the other side, they withheld the Red Wolves to only 22
• 13: Brown, had herself a career day as well as she notched her third career double-double as she tallied 20 points and 14 rebounds, which is also a career-high in rebounds for her

COACH'S CORNER:

• "I am very proud of the girls' effort today. Hannah was hot in the second half and made her presence known. Sydney did what she does best and played with confidence. Naomi played with an abundance of confidence and led the girls today. Proud of our defensive effort and the relentlessness the girls had from start to finish. Feels good to be 1-1 on the season so far." - Head Coach Rachel Steinbarger

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders continue to play in the First Bank Richmond Classic as they will next take on Lindsey Wilson College tomorrow afternoon Saturday, November 2 with a 2 PM Tipoff.
• Live video can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/iue/. While live stats can be found at http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10 

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