By: Matt Lood
Staff-Writer/ Sports Liaison
Since our last installment on IU South Bend women’s basketball, a plethora of monumental moments have happened including a new all-time leading scorer and a CCAC regular season championship.
Fifth-year guard Maddie Gard broke the career points record for both men and women when she nailed a jump shot just one minute into the second quarter in a 81-44 win against CCAC rivals St. Ambrose on Feb. 10. Gard, who currently sits at 1857 points in her career, still has one more conference showdown against the Eagles of Judson and a postseason run to add more points to her illustrious career total.
Originally from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Gard graduated from Oak Creek High School as a decorated basketball player alongside her twin sister, Katie Gard, also a high-achieving Titan basketball player. Maddie earned First Team All-Conference honors her senior year of high school, and in her freshman campaign, Maddie would go on to play in 32 games with 19 starts. She would lead the team in a number of statistical categories, including points (439) and steals (73).
Maddie’s sophomore season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. In four games, she scored 61 points for the Titans. However, her junior year would see her return to her freshman year form, as she played in 30 games with 30 starts and scored 479 points – second only to her sister, who outscored her by 11 points. Maddie continued her domination on both ends as she led the team in steals again that season, tallying 71 steals.
Last year, Maddie continued her ways, as she helped lead the team to its best ever finish: going 28-3 overall and 18-2 in CCAC play. She finished the year with 422 points. This season, Maddie is leading the team on another record-breaking run as they look well poised to make a deep postseason run in both the CCAC and the NAIA national tournament. This season, she boasts 456 points, a .503 shooting percentage and a team-leading 56 steals.
The Titans currently sit 26-1 overall and 18-1 in CCAC play, with their only loss coming against the Cougars of St. Xavier University 55-72. Since that game, the Titans have been able to right the ship and get back on track with two more wins against Roosevelt (69-53) and Olivet Nazarene (84-81). The game versus Roosevelt saw the Titans go on a head to clinch the CCAC Regular Season Championship, a title that comes with an automatic bid to the NAIA Women’s National Championship Tournament as well as a very important #1 seed in the CCAC Conference Championship Tournament.
With one more game to go against the aforementioned Eagles, the bracket for the conference tournament is yet to be solidified. Yet, one thing that is known is that Titans will be hosting a game in the SAC.
