Haskell's April Johnston, center, pushes through a double team against Peru State. Johnston was one of three Indians with 14 points in their 60-52 victory Tuesday at Haskell.

Haskell's Terrance Little Thunder, right, puts up a shot over a Peru State defender. Little Thunder led the Indians with 18 points and 10 rebounds despite falling ill earlier this week.

What better way to end a four-game losing streak than by opening conference play against a team that has only two victories?

Haskell Indian Nations University’s women’s basketball squad did just that by beating Peru State, 60-52, to open action in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference on Tuesday at Coffin Sports Complex.

“To me, this was huge,” HINU coach Phil Homeratha said. “To me, this was big because I lost a starter from the first semester, and we’re down to nine players. Peru’s record is kind of deceiving, and they had all their players coming back from last year while I’m starting two freshmen. When you have young kids, a win like this kind of sticks in their head.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Indians, however, as they let leads of seven and 10 slip away in the opening half and trailed the Bobcats for much of the second half.

In the end, it was HINU’s dominance down low that sealed its eighth victory of the season. The Indians had a 46-30 advantage on the boards, allowing just seven offensive rebounds while coming away with 14 offensive boards of their own.

Haskell freshman center Lois Stevens led all players in rebounding with 12, and HINU freshman guard Sharon Forte added eight boards.

“In warm-ups (Stevens) got mad, and I told everyone, ‘We might have just unleashed the tiger’ because I haven’t ever seen Lois get mad out on the court or anything,” junior guard Kortney Smith said. “But she was pretty mad in warm-ups, so I think it may be something that she just has to be mad to play. She’s a good, young player, and she’s only going to get better.”

Haskell had a balanced offensive outing against Peru State with four players finishing in double digits. Smith, April Johnston and Whitney Warrior scored 14 points each, while Forte finished with 12 points.

The HINU women begin a three-game road trip Saturday at College of the Ozarks – the top-ranked team in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II women’s basketball.

Peru State 72, Haskell men 69

The way Peru State men’s basketball squad was shooting three-pointers, it was only fitting that three points was the final margin.

Peru State started out hot from outside, making seven of its first eight attempts.

By the end of the game, the Bobcats were 13-of-18 (72 percent), while the Indians made seven of 14 from three-point land. Peru State was led by Joe Mews, who was 7-of-9 from behind the arc and finished with a game-high 24 points.

“You look at the tape, and you look at their stats, and their not a very good three-point shooters,” HINU coach Ted Juneau said. “But when conference play comes, teams are going to be revved up and ready to go. I didn’t think they could shoot that well the whole game.”

The three-point shooting of Peru State put a damper on the performance of Haskell’s 6-foot-10 center, Terrance Little Thunder.

Little Thunder had been battling illness over the last several days, but wasn’t going to let a fever keep him from finishing the game with a double-double – 18 points and 10 rebounds. Both totals were tops on the team.

“I was still hurting out there and wasn’t playing to the fullest I was wanting to, but I still tried to do what I could for the team,” Little Thunder said. “I didn’t even expect to score any points tonight. I had a 104 temperature yesterday. Sunday, Monday and this morning I wasn’t feeling too well. Coach took me out a couple of times, and I sat on the sideline by the trainer looking at a bucket for a while.”

The HINU men will head to College of the Ozarks on Saturday to face a team that is ranked No. 14 in NAIA Division II.

“I told the team they’re either going to roll over and get beat by 50, or we’re going to fight them tooth and nail,” Juneau said. “I told them my vote is they’re going to fight them tooth and nail. They have not done one thing this year to prove me wrong on that thought.”