Mark Wiest has told Katie O'Neill that she needs to be a little more assertive on the court.
It paid off in a big way for Jamestown College on Friday night.
The No. 6-ranked Jimmies used a big second half, sparked by the senior guard from Melbourne, Australia, to beat No. 2-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) 80-63 at the Civic Center.
"The one thing I've told Katie is that she's too unselfish," Wiest said. "She's a very talented basketball player and she has to be a little more assertive, a little more selfish. Her teammates will understand because they know how important she is to our team and to our success.
"In the second half, she decided she was going to take over. She's such a good passer, and sometimes she looks to pass first. Tonight she looked for her shot and she was a big reason we went on a big run."
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O'Neill scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, and she hit several big shots during a game-turning 17-2 run that turned a four-point lead into a 19-point advantage.
"I was looking for it," O'Neill said. "I was looking for my drive more in the first half and in the second half the shots just opened up."
"We attacked so much better in the second half," Wiest said. "Giuli (Varriano) had a good second half as did Kellie (Schuneman). That got us going a bit."
Varriano finished with 12 points and Schuneman had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Jimmies turned up the pressure defensively in the second half with a zone defense that frustrated the Red Raiders, forcing 16 second-half turnovers and holding them to 33 percent shooting (9 for 27) from the field over the final 20 minutes.
"We started off in man to man but we switched to a zone," O'Neill said. "We were a little slow. They've got a pretty quick first step off their drives. We were able to slow their penetration and they struggled. We were getting up in the passing lanes and that helped."
"Early in the week, I thought we could run our 1-2-2 against them," Wiest said. "It looked good at UND. But the thing I was worried about with Northwestern is they have so many good shooters on the floor.
"We got in foul trouble and I didn't really have an option. We had to switch to it. But the girls did a good job with it. If they weren't turning the ball over, they were taking shots they didn't want to take."
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Becca Hurley led the Red Raiders (1-1) with 19 points.
The Jimmies (3-0) host Dordt (Iowa) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Jamestown College 80, Northwestern (Iowa) 63
Northwestern 32 31 -- 63
Jamestown College 38 42 -- 80
NORTHWESTERN (63): Becca Hurley 7-16 5-6 19, Kami Kuhlmann 2-10 5-7 10, Val Kleinjan 3-8 0-0 7, Andrea Wedel 3-4 4-4 12, Melannie Babcock 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Hulst 0-0 0-0 0, Kristin Neth 0-1 0-0 0, Katie Nieuwsma 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Wedel 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Klingenborg 0-0 1-2 1, Thea Engen 2-4 2-3 6, Kendra De Jong 4-8 0-0 8, Shelby Johnson 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 21-52 FG, 17-22 FT, 24 fouls (Babcock), 29 rebounds (De Jong 7), 23 turnovers, 10 assists (Kuhlmann 3, Engen 3), 13 steals (Engen 4), 4 blocked shots (Kuhlmann 2). Technical fouls: Northwestern head coach 2. Three-pointers: 4-12 (Hurley 0-3, Kuhlmnn 1-3, Kleinjan 1-2, A.Wedel 2-2, Neth 0-1, De Jong 0-1).
JAMESTOWN COLLEGE (80): Giuli Varriano 5-9 2-3 12, Cori Doubek 2-6 2-2 6, Katie O'Neill 8-15 3-4 23, Kellie Schuneman 3-5 8-9 14, Amanda Rantapaa 2-9 0-0 4, Krista Shaikowski 1-4 2-2 4, Justene Engels 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Ahlers 1-1 0-0 2, Jackie Hust 1-2 2-2 4, Allison Epping 2-3 4-7 8, Bridget Schuneman 1-1 1-1 3 .
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Totals: 26-55 FG, 24-30 FT, 23 fouls, 32 rebounds (K.Schuneman 5), 12 turnovers, 12 assists (K.Schuneman 5), 11 steals (Varriano 3), 2 blocked shots (Epping 2). Three-pointers: 4-14 (O'Neill 4-7, Rantapaa 0-5, Shaikowski 0-2).
Records: Northwestern 1-1, Jamestown College 3-0.
