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With 5.7 seconds to go in the game, the University of Jamestown women’s basketball team’s Hannah DeMars took a three that was off the back iron. The shot was rebounded by the No. 23 Briar Cliff Chargers. Chargers' Mya Hendry got fouled by Noelle Josephson with .5 seconds to go. At the line, Hendry split the pair to give her team the 66-65 road win on Jan. 12. The loss is now the Jimmies (11-8, 4-7) fourth in a row.
The Jimmies falling short in their recent battles is hard emotionally for the team, DeMars said.
“It’s hard but that’s what sports are about there is always a winner and a loser,” DeMars said. “The toughest team is the one that is going to pull it out in the end.”
The Chargers (11-6, 8-3) struggled shooting the three ball in the second half, shooting one for 11.
The Jimmies lone senior, Josephson, took full responsibility after the game for the foul.
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“I made a play for the ball and unfortunately it didn’t go my way and that’s on me,” Josephson said.
The Chargers’ Payton Slaughter knocked down a three early in the third to make it 46-27. The Chargers’ Kaegen Held hit a jumper to make it 48-30. The Jimmies stole some energy back on the other end with a bucket and the whistle from Megan Oswald; at the line, she made it 48-33 with five minutes to go in the third quarter. With 3:43 to go in the third quarter, the Jimmies’ Sarah Lenz hit a three to make it 50-39. With 2:13 to go, Lenz hit a spot up triple to make it 54-42. The Jimmies’ Madelyn Schmidt hit a three with 1:36 to go make it 54-45.
With 8:22 to go in the game, the Jimmies’ Kia Tower drove in and hit the runner to make it 56-53. The Chargers’ Kaegan Held drove in on the other end and hit the high arching floater to put her team up 58-53. Schmidt hit a three to make it 60-60 right in front of her own bench with 4:20 to go. After a Jimmies steal, DeMars hit the shot clock beating jumper to give the Jimmies the 62-60 lead midway through the fourth. With 29.6 seconds to go in the game, DeMars went to the line down 65-64 and split the pair to tie the game up at 65.
For the third consecutive game, a late Jimmies comeback attempt fell short, which was frustrating to head coach Thad Sankey.
“The fight and the comeback is fantastic,” Sankey said. “When you play top 25 teams you can’t say we’re going to come back from 19 points. You can’t say ‘hey guys we’re going to come back from 19 points.' You can’t do that and you can’t do it every time. That is the third game in a row that, that’s what we’ve tried to do and we can’t keep doing that. That is not a good plan for us.”
The Jimmies are back in action at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15, when they host Concordia. The Chargers are back in action at 5 p.m. on Jan. 15, when they go to Dordt.
BCU 66, UJ 65
BCU: 19 24 11 12—66
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UJ: 18 9 18 20—65
Points leaders:
BCU: Payton Slaughter 13, Konnor Sudmann 12, Cadence Davis 10
UJ: Hannah DeMars 12, Madelyn Schmidt 12, Sarah Lenz 12
Assists leaders:
BCU: Slaughter 3, Sudmann 2, Josie Condon 2,
UJ: Noelle Josephson 5, Schmidt 2, Kia Tower 2
Leading rebounders:
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BCU: Mya Hendry 8, Sudmann 5, Kennedy Benne 4
UJ: Josephson 11, DeMars 9, Rodakowski 8
