WICHITA - The Newman women's basketball team picked up a much-needed win Thursday night, dominating Oklahoma Panhandle State in all aspects of the game on their way to a 67-48 win over the Aggies in Fugate Gymnasium. Jessica Forshee led the Jets with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Newman (7-19, 4-9 Heartland) scored the first eight points of the game, and kept a short-handed Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-18, 3-10 Heartland) team off the scoreboard for just over five minutes. Cassie Wood scored OPSU's first bucket of the game at the 14:57 mark on a lay-up from Callie Schafer, but the Jets had opened up an 8-2 lead by that point. Wood's bucket was but a minor hiccup for the Jets, who scored the next five points of the game to open up a 13-2 advantage with 13:50 still to play. Nothing seemed to go right for the Aggies in the first half. OPSU finally broke double-digits in the scoring column on a Chaney Latham Free throw at the 5:27 mark, but Newman had the game well in hand by that point, leading 22-10. From there, Newman finished on a 15-9 run over the final five minutes of play, and took a 37-19 lead into the halftime break.

It didn't take long for the thought of a 30-point lead to sneak into the minds of the Jets. Newman picked up where they left off in the second half, opening on a 15-6 run, and taking a 28-point, 52-24 lead on a Jessica Forshee jumper at the 14:40 mark. OPSU responded by scoring the next five points of the game, and turned that spurt into an 18-2 run over the next six minutes that trimmed Newman's lead to 12, 54-42, with 8:35 to play. This time it was Newman's turn to mount a rally. The Jets answered with 11-unanswered points to regain control of the game, as another Forshee lay-up gave Newman a 65-42 lead with just 2:47 remaining in the game. From there, it was a matter of running out the clock. Head Coach Tracy Anderson emptied her bench as the Jets hung on for the 67-48 win.

Senior Jessica Forshee led the Jets in their seventh win of the season, finishing Thursday night's game with 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Monique Pitts added 10 points and three rebounds of her own, while Rainey Nickel added a game-high six assists.

Nefeteria Davis led OPSU with 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds in the losing effort.

With the win, the Jets improve to 7-19 this season, and 4-9 in Heartland Conference play, while the Aggies fall to 8-18 and 3-10 in conference play. More importantly, Newman remains in position to sneak into next week's Heartland Conference Championship tournament. The Jets are currently tied with Texas A&M International for the sixth and final spot in the Heartland Conference tournament.

The Jets are back in action Saturday, playing host to Texas-Permian Basin in the final game of the 2009-10 regular season. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. at Fugate Gymnasium.