CHANDLER, Ariz.  -- The Cactus Classic, hosted by Chandler-Gilbert Community College, began for the Vanguard women's basketball team on Wednesday in a titanic clash with #2 Indiana Wesleyan.  The Lions put up a valiant effort but could not overcome the Wildcats in the tilt, as Indiana Wesleyan picked up a 67-49 victory.  VU falls to 4-2 and IWU goes to 10-1.
 
 
What Happened? The first quarter was competitive between the programs but the Wildcats made the first two layups of the day.  Jaryn Madsen made the VU reply, as she drained the opening three of the frame to cut the gap to 4-3.  Melissa Akullu followed that up with her first layup to give the Lions a 5-4 edge, but that would be the only time the Blue and Gold would be ahead on the scoreboard for the rest of the game.  A three for the Wildcats put them up 7-5, and though Halle Si'i tied the game a minute later, IWU outscored VU 9-2 over the next five minutes.  A three for Alexa Silva would bring the deficit down to four with a minute to go, and with no other buckets in the period, VU trailed 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Indiana Wesleyan made the first layup of the second quarter and the Wildcats pushed their lead to 14 halfway through the frame.  The Lions leveled off from there and as the period came towards a close, the team made a small push.   Ashlin Crabtree made a pair of free throws and Sarah Matossian and Madsen each made threes to make the score 36-25 at halftime.
 
Matossian opened the new half with a swish from downtown to bring the lead down to eight, the closest the gap had been since the end of the first period.  She made a layup soon after to keep the deficit at eight, but the Wildcats exploded from there , going on a 13-0 run to gain a 51-30 lead. The Lions trailed 51-34 after three periods of action but they had their most productive quarter in the fourth.  Vanguard put up 15 points over the final 10 minutes of action but were still outscored by IWU by one in the frame, as the second-ranked Wildcats won 67-49.
 
Indiana Wesleyan shot 38.8% from the floor for the game and 31.6% from beyond the arc, while the Lions shot 28.1% from the field and 27.6% from downtown.  Madsen had 17 points to pace VU, going 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range.  Matossian was next with 10 points and had 14 rebounds to lead the Blue and Gold in that department to notch a double-double.  Si'i had nine points and two assists.
 
 
What's Next?  The Lions will remain in Arizona for the next two days and will take on the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. PT.