Jimmies do enough to get 68-59 win at Hastings

Jan. 22—The three ball was flying for the University of Jamestown women's basketball team in a 68-59 win over Hastings College on Jan. 22. The Jimmies (14-8, 7-7) hit 15 threes in this game, which the most made threes since they hit 16 against Valley City State on Nov. 27. The Broncos (10-10, 6-8) scored 18 points off 22 Jimmies turnovers.

The Broncos' Taylor Beacom hit a jumper to make it 5-2 midway through the first quarter. With 4:09 to go, the Jimmies' Megan Oswald hit a layup to make it 10-2 in favor of the Jimmies. With 3:03 to go, the Broncos' Miriam Miller was left alone and sped to the hoop and hit the layup to make it 10-4. With 53 seconds to go in the first quarter, the Jimmies' Sarah Lenz spotted up from deep and knocked it down to extend her team's lead to 19-8.

The Jimmies ability to flip the switch in the first quarter after the slow start was big for the team's confidence according to head coach Thad Sankey.

"Huge," Sankey said. "It's tough to do that. It takes some real toughness, especially when we come off a game last night where we didn't shoot it well at Doane. For our shooters to step up and open the game up that way that's a big deal."

Moments into the second quarter, the Jimmies' Jailyn Martinson hit the bucket and converted the and-one to make it 22-8. With 8:34 to go the Broncos' Riley Clavel splashed a three to make it 22-13. The Jimmies' Audrey Rodakowski was doubled so she found, Kia Tower who knocked down the three to make it 25-13 with 7:25 to go in the second quarter. With 5:22 to go in the second, Katharine Hamburger knocked down a three to cut the lead to 28-19. Tower hit a three with 3:27 to go in the first half to make it 34-20. With just under a minute to go in the first half, the Broncos' Ali Smith hit an elbow triple to make it 37-25.

With just under eight minutes to go in the third quarter, Beacom knocked down a three to make it 39-30, drawing a Jimmies timeout. With just under five minutes to go in the third, the Jimmies' Macy Savela knocked down a three to make it 47-33. Clavel hit a free throw line jumper to bring the game closer at 47-38 with 1:07 to go in the third quarter. With 25 seconds left, Martinson drove in and hit the up and under to extend the lead to 49-42.

Early in the fourth quarter, Lenz splashed a three to make it 52-44. With just under seven minutes to go, Beacom knocked down a three to bring the game closer at 54-47. Clavel took an inbounds pass and hit the jumper to make it 54-49 with 6:05 to go. On the other end, DeMars was left all alone and hit the layup to make it 56-49. With 4:35 to go, Hamburger hit the layup to make it 57-54 before the Jimmies responded on the other end with a three from Tower. With 2:15 to go in the game, Beacom hit a three to make it 61-59. With 64 seconds to go, Schmidt knocked down a three to put the Jimmies up 66-59.

This was the Jimmies leading scorer, Savela's third game back from injury, which she says has led to her feeling better and better each game.

"It's been great to get back playing. I've been feeling better every game," Savela said. "I really missed being on the court with my teammates so that's been the best part."

The Jimmies are back in action at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 26, when they host Mount Marty. The Broncos go on the road at 6 p.m. on Jan. 26, to face Concordia.

UJ 68, HC 59

UJ: 19 20 10 19 — 68

HC: 8 17 19 15—59

Points leaders:

UJ: Macy Savela 14, Sarah Lenz 12, Hannah DeMars 12

HC: Taylor Beacom 14, Riley Clavel 11, Katharine Hamburger 10

Assists leaders:

UJ: Noelle Josephson 4, DeMars 3, Madelyn Schmidt 3

HC: Ali Smith 2, Hamburger 2, Kiernan Paulk 2

Leading rebounders:

UJ: DeMars 8, Josephson 6, Lenz 4

HC: Hamburger 6, Smith 3, Clavel 3, Taylor Beacom 3, Miriam Miller 3