WICHITA – The Newman women's basketball team pulled away from Rogers State for a 55-41 victory over Rogers State on Saturday (Feb. 21) at Fugate Gymnasium on Senior Day. The Jets moved to 8-16 and 5-11 in the Heartland Conference.
 
In the first half, the Jets went up by 10 points, 20-10 on a layup by Tessa Ramsay with 8:35 remaining in the half. After a RSU basket, Brianna Caldwell hit a 3 for NU's largest lead of the first half at 11 with the score 23-12. The Jets led by 11 points three times in the first half. After the first 20 minutes, NU held a 31-22 advantage.
 
The Jets scored the first seven points of the second half to build their largest lead of the game at 38-22 after another Caldwell 3 with 17:47 remaining.
 
Mali Wright scored inside at the 15:41 mark to put the Jets up 40-26. The Hillcats hit a 3 for a 40-29 score with 14:38 remaining. Neither team scored for nearly 5 minutes as the next points came with 9:46 reaming on a RSU jumper.
 
A scoring drought of 8:35 came to an end for NU on a jumper from Ramsay at the 7:06 mark for a 42-31 score.
 
The lead was cut to three at 42-39 with 4:32 remaining. Senior Shakira Raynor scored on a layup with 3:23 left to put NU up by five at 44-39. Wright hit one free throw for a 45-39 NU edge with under 3 minutes remaining. DaJah Thompson made it an eight-point lead with a jumper with 1:33 left for a 47-39 score. Late free throws put the Jets up by the final score of 55-41.
 
The Jets ended the game on a 13-2 run to pull away for the victory.
 
Strong NU defense held the Hillcats to 25 percent (13-52) from the field, including only 20 percent (6-30) in the second half. RSU shot only 16.7 percent (4-24) from 3 and 6.7 percent (1-15) from behind the 3-point line in the second half.
 
Brianna Caldwell hit five 3s and went 6-of-7 from the three throw line to finish with a game-high 21 points. Mali Wright hit double figures with 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Kesha Buckner grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
The Jets outrebounded RSU by a 48-39 margin. NU totaled 17 offensive rebounds and the 48 rebounds are the second-most this season by the Jets.
 
RSU's Mikaila Newton finished with 14 points, and Breanna Burford totaled a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
 
NU takes on Texas-Permian Basin on Thursday (Feb. 26) at 5:30 p.m. in Odessa, Texas.