SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The No. 19-ranked University of Jamestown had two stretches in the second half where they could not hit a basket and it cost them in a 59-56 loss to No. 23-ranked Briar Cliff University on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Briar Cliff’s Newman Flanagan Center.
The Chargers (19-7, 15-5) got out to an early 7-0 lead before the Jimmies (20-6, 15-5) fought back to take a 13-11 lead. Both teams went to the line in the first quarter as there were seven free throws in the first quarter with the Chargers hitting five of their six attempts and the Jimmies’ Kate Busek converting an and-one midway through the quarter.
The Jimmies’ Sarah Lenz hit a three early in the second quarter to push her team up 26-21 but the Chargers fought back with a run to cut the deficit to 30-28 with just under a minute to go in the first half. Busek responded with a three to go into the half up 33-28.
The Jimmies struggled shooting in the third quarter as they shot 3-for-15 from the field. In total, the Jimmies were outscored 20-9 in the quarter heading into the fourth trailing 48-42. The Jimmies also turned the ball over five times. Jimmies head coach Thad Sankey said the Jimmies' poor third quarter was was due to their struggles with the Chargers' defensive pressure.
“I was really proud of our girls for battling back and digging in, in the fourth quarter and giving ourselves a chance to win at the end,” Sankley said. “We were right in it, we had a shot to win it at the end we were just unable to convert and those opportunities are things that are marks of a good team. When we get down and they make a big run at home our girls have to fix it and make adjustments without being able to take timeouts.”
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The Jimmies bounced back in the fourth quarter as they went on a run to tie the game up at 56 on a Jailyn Martinson jumper with 2:36 to go in the game. The Jimmies immediately gave up the lead when the Jimmies' Kate Cordes got called for a foul sending the Chargers’ Madelyn Dietchler to the free throw line where she split the pair to go up 57-56. The Jimmies again went dry from there as they missed their last four shots in a row.
The Jimmies struggled in foul trouble as they sent the Chargers to the line for 25 free throws, whereas they only drew 10 fouls. The Chargers shot 19-for-25 from the stripe and the Jimmies shot 7-for-10.
“When we were in good deep help positions we got stops and we were able to get turnovers and defensive rebounding,” Sankey said. “As soon as we got out of our help positions they were getting good looks and they were getting to the free throw line.”
The Jimmies return to the court at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, when they face the College of Saint Mary.
UJ 56, BCU 59
UJ: 18 15 9 14–56
BCU: 15 13 20 11–59
Points leaders:
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UJ: Hannah DeMars 24, Sarah Lenz 11, Kate Busek 6
BCU: Konnor Sudmann 22, Madelyn Dietchler 16, Payton Slaughter 10
Assists leaders:
UJ: DeMars 2, Tower 1, Busek 1, Jailyn Martinson 1, Sarah Lenz 1, Megan Oswald 1
BCU: Slaughter 3, Dietchler 2, Kennedy Benne 1, Kaegan Held 1
Leading rebounders:
UJ: DeMars 10, Tower 4, Audrey Rodakowski 4, Busek 3, Oswald 3, Lenz 2, Hagel 2, Martinson 1, Kate Cordes 1
BCU: Dietchler 9, Slaughter 7, Sudmann 6
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