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A 17-point deficit midway through the first half may have actually helped Kentucky Wesleyan.
The No. 3-seeded Lady Panthers were able to play loose and came back to defeat No. 6 seed Indianapolis 64-63 in the quarterfinals of the Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament at the Ford Center.
"When you're down 17, you kind of can let loose a little bit," co-head coach Caleb Nieman said. "At that point, there's really nothing left to lose. I thought that's how we came back — with a nothing to lose mentality.
"We're not used to being a higher seed. We're not used to being the favorite. Sometimes that puts a little pressure on you. Then when you go down 17, it's like we're back to where this whole thing started."
After Indy's Katy McIntosh converted a 3-point play to give the Lady Greyhounds (19-9) a 63-62 foul, Lauren Goffinet drew a foul and hit two free throws with 24.8 seconds left to play to give KWC (20-7) the decisive 64-63 lead.
Indy chose to hold for one shot in the final 24.8, getting a 15-footer in the corner that came up short.
The final moments of Friday's game brought back memories from last year's GLVC tournament semifinal game against Indy, both good and bad.
As Goffinet headed to the line to shoot the crucial free throws, co-head coach Nicole Nieman remembered how she missed four free throws in the final minute of last year's game against Indy.
This year, Goffinet stepped up to the line and hit nothing but net.
"(My mind) was completely blank. I don't really remember it," Goffinet said of her free throws. "I was nervous, but I was just trying not to think about missing them."
On the other side, Indy got yet another last-second shot in the corner with one second left to win against KWC that came up short.
KWC closed out the first half on a 14-3 run with a buzzer-beater by T'Essence Phelps that tied the game at 38 at halftime.
The game remained close for most of the second half, but KWC led by as many as seven with 6:04 left to play.
KWC started off the game 2-of-8 on field goals while Indy was 8-of-10. Caleb Nieman said he felt like the eight-day layoff and a different shooting backdrop affected KWC, which is typically an outside shooting time.
Indy jumped ahead by scoring a lot in the post.
Goffinet said once Indy jumped ahead, the focus then turned to defense, which the team knew would eventually lead to offense. KWC finished with 17 points off of 17 Indy turnovers thanks to its press.
"We are a very good shooting team," Goffinet said. "We just have to realize sometimes that even if we're not making them, we'll make them eventually. If we just crash the boards and get some offensive rebounds then do our job on defense, we're going to be fine."
Goffinet finished with a team-high 12 points and six rebounds. Bianca Barton and Karly Rhoads both had 11 points, while Shelbi Tyra added 10.
Kristin Turner led Indy with 16 points.
The Lady Panthers now play No. 2 seed Maryville (18-9) at 6 p.m. Saturday in the semifinal round, looking to advance to their second straight GLVC tournament championship game.
KWC entered as the No. 5 ranked team in the latest Midwest Region Rankings, and Nicole Nieman said she felt like this win probably guaranteed the team its second NCAA tournament berth.
But first, she said, there's business to take care of.
"They're not worried about the NCAA Tournament right now," she said. "They're worried about (Saturday) night's game. They want to win a GLVC conference tournament."
