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HASTINGS, NEB. — The University of Jamestown took an early lead and never relinquished it from there going up by double digits at multiple points in a 68-62 win over Hastings College on Saturday, Jan. 21, at Hasting’s Farrell Arena.
“We knew we would be in for a tough game,” Jimmies head coach Thad Sankey said. “I thought we handled that with poise and did a great job handling the adversity that Hastings brings. They’re physical, they’re gritty on the defensive end, they really really guard people and they have a unique offensive approach that pulls our big away from the basket, which can be tough for us at times to make sure we’re at the right spots. So, I thought those were all things for us that we battled through from time to time at different stretches.”
With 5:15 to go in the first quarter, the Broncos’ Mariyah Avila knocked down a three to push her team in front 11-9. The Jimmies (15-5, 10-4) immediately responded with a three of their own thanks to Sarah Lenz to take a 12-11 lead, and giving the Jimmies the lead for good. The teams would trade buckets through the rest of the first as there were only seven missed field goals over the final five minutes to send the game to the second with the Jimmies up 19-18.
Early in the second quarter, the Jimmies’ Hannah DeMars hit a jumper to push the lead out to 21-18. The Jimmies were able to stretch the lead out to six points multiple times in the second quarter, with the last one coming from a DeMars jumper with 5:27 to go in the first half to push the lead out to 30-24.
Midway through the third quarter, the Jimmies stretched the lead out to nine points at 44-35, the largest they had to that point on a Lenz three with 6:07 to go in the third. After the Broncos (8-12, 4-10) fought back to bring it as close as five points, the Jimmies responded with a 6-1 run punctuated by a Kate Cordes three to take a 55-45 lead.
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The Broncos started the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 55-52 but an Audrey Rodakowski layup put an end to the run push the lead out to 57-52. That started a 7-0 runt that saw the Jimmies push the lead out to 62-52 with 6:14 to go in the game. The closest the Broncos would get from there is six points on an Alyssa Baker three with nine seconds left.
"I think we all just had confidence in ourselves as a team the whole game," Jimmies guard Kia Tower said. "We executed in the fourth quarter and got important stops down the stretch."
The Jimmies are back in action at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, when they host Mount Marty.
UJ 68, HC 62
UJ: 19 17 19 13–68
HC: 18 16 13 15–62
Points leaders:
UJ: Hannah DeMars 17, Kia Tower 15, Sarah Lenz 9
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HC: Mariyah Avila 14, Allison Baker 11, Alyssa Baker 10
Assists leaders:
UJ: Tower 6, DeMars 5, Lenz 1, Audrey Rodakowski 1, Kate Busek 1, Kate Cordes 1, Jailyn Martinson 1, Megan Oswald 1
HC: Avila 3, Dawson Knode 2, Sarah Treffer 2, Kiernan Paulk 1, Miriam Miller 1, Katharine Hamburger 1
Leading rebounders:
UJ: DeMars 15, Tower 7, Busek 4
HC: Carley Leners 9, Hamburger 5, Avila 4
