JAMESTOWN — The No. 19-ranked University of Jamestown could not keep a lights-out first half going in an 82-78 loss to No. 4-ranked Dordt University on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Harold Newman Arena.
“For us, it’s all about our mindset and can we control our emotions and we didn’t control our emotions,” Jimmies head coach Thad Sankey said. “We lost our focus in the third quarter and we made this game a little bit too big. So, when we lose our communication and all of a sudden we’re not switching clean and we’re not talking and we’re in those situations, those are times that, that lack of focus really shows.”
The first quarter was played at a frenetic pace with both teams shooting over 50% in the first quarter. The Jimmies (21-7, 16-6) took an early 11-4 lead before the Defenders fought back to cut the deficit to 11-9. The Jimmies responded with a run to push the lead out to 21-9, drawing a Defenders timeout. Out of the timeout, the Defenders (26-2, 20-2) cut the deficit to 26-20 heading into the second quarter.
The shootout continued in the second quarter as the Jimmies’ Hannah DeMars hit an early jumper to push the lead out to 29-20 but the Defenders responded with a run to cut their deficit to 33-27. The Jimmies responded once again with a run to make it 41-30 with 4:51 to go in the second quarter. The Defenders would not quit as they cut the deficit to 46-42 before a Kate Cordes three sent the Jimmies into the half up 49-42.
In the first half, the Jimmies shot 68% from the field and the Defenders shot 49% from the field. The two teams missed a combined 26 shots in the first half. The biggest thing keeping the Defenders in the game in the first half was the Jimmies having zero offensive rebounds.
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The Jimmies appeared to be taking the Defenders' punches and hanging on early in the second half as they were able to stretch the lead out to 58-51 with 5:40 to go in the third quarter. The Defenders’ Macy Sievers responded with a three to cut the deficit to 58-54 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. That three was part of a 24-point performance for the freshman as she set a new career high. The Defenders took the lead back on a Faith Van Holland layup to make it 59-58 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. It was their first lead since 4-2 and they would not give it up for the rest of the game.
“We had a really good start to the third quarter,” Defenders head coach Bill Harmsen said. “We held Jamestown, I think scoreless through their first three possesions. That was a goal of ours and we were able to score on I think our first three or four possessions. So, to flip it like that to get going and then we couldn’t get the lead until I think it was 58-57… I thought once we got the lead just for our confidence without Karly (Gustafson) and Bailey (Beckman) that, that would be a big deal for us.”
The Jimmies fought back in the fourth quarter to tie the game up at 70 on a Kate Busek three but the Defenders immediately responded with a Sievers jumper to push her team in front 72-70. The Jimmies would continue to battle but late free throws put the game away.
“We wanted to push on transition and use the ball on screens,” Sievers said. “As soon as we knew how they were doing it, we had our post roll to the basket so we could dish and we could hit the pull-up jumpers as guards because they were sagging on those screens.”
After their hot first-half shooting, the Jimmies could not keep up their incredible pace as they finished the game shooting 50% from the field.
The Jimmies are back in action at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, when they host Concordia University.
DU 82 , UJ 78
DU: 20 22 22 18–82
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UJ: 26 23 12 17–78
Points leaders:
DU: Macy Sievers 24, Janie Schoonhoven 14, McKenna Klecker 11, Faith Van Holland 11, Macey Nielson 9, Hayden Heimensen 9, Eliana Kuperus 3
UJ: Hannah DeMars 23, Audrey Rodakowski 16, Kate Busek 14
Assists leaders:
DU: Schoonhoven 7, Sievers 6, Klecker 2
UJ: Tower 7, Busek 5, DeMars 3
Leading rebounders:
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DU: Schoonhoven 8, Heimensen 6, Sievers 4, Van Holland 4, Nielson 3
UJ: Busek 10, DeMars 7, Rodakowski 5
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