WICHITA, Kan. — For the second straight game, the Newman women's basketball team pulled away with a dominant second half, ending the regular season on a two-game winning streak with a 63-35 victory over St. Edward's on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium.
KEY SEQUENCE
While the entire second half was controlled by the Jets (11-14, 5-12 Heartland), who held the Hilltoppers (10-15, 8-9 Heartland) to just 10 points after the break, it was an 11-0 run to end the third quarter that gave the hosts control. Newman shot 4-of-5 over the final 3:28 of the period and hit all three of their free throws to turn a 10-point lead into a tough-to-overcome 50-29 margin.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-A fast-paced first quarter saw four ties and three lead changes. The Hilltoppers netted the first four points of the game, followed by a fastbreak layup from Bria DeGrate and two free throws from senior Shaunice Robinson to tie things up.
-A 3-pointer from Erica Olerich at the 5:29 mark gave the Jets the lead back at 8-6, and a jumper out of Natalia Hausmann less than a minute later broke a tie. Senior Lizzy Harrison hit two free throws to push ahead once more before the guests went ahead one more time.
-Iva Krstevska nailed a trey with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter to give the Jets the lead for good at 17-15. After no scoring in the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter, the hosts ripped off seven straight to go up nine. SEU brought the score back to a one-point game, but Newman ended the half up by three.
-The Hilltoppers hit the first bucket of the second half, but that was the final points they would score for five minutes. Robinson started the first 11-0 run of the third quarter with a fastbreak layup off a dish from DeGrate, and a slick lay-in from Cierra Tjaden followed by a three-point play from Robinson turned it into a 35-27 lead.
-Back-to-back baskets from Hausmann and Tjaden pushed it to a 12-point lead at 39-27 with 4:09 left in the third, and after a bucket from SEU, they ripped off another 11 in a row, with Harrison hitting three shots and adding a free throw for seven points during the run, and Robinson hit two free throws to end the quarter up by 21.
-The Hilltoppers scored first in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 19 points, but a fastbreak bucket from Robinson bumped the lead to 52-31 and the Jets led by at least 21 the rest of the way.
NOTES
-Robinson led three Jets in double figures, netting 18 points and adding three assists and two steals. Hausmann picked up the first double-double of her career by scoring 11 points and pulling in a game-high 13 rebounds. It was the junior's first game with double-digit rebounds.
-Harrison poured in a career-high 16 points on senior day, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from the line. It's her third double-digit scoring effort in the last five games, and she added five rebounds.
-The Jets outscored the Hilltoppers 35-10 in the second half, and just 20 points in the final three quarters after the guests netted 15 in the first quarter. Newman shot 14-of-28 (50.0 percent) in the second half, while SEU was held to 5-of-26 (19.2 percent).
-The two wins to complete the final weekend of the year were the Jets' third- and fourth-largest of the year. Adding on the 61-31 victory over Texas-Permian Basin Thursday, it was the first time Newman won back-to-back games by at least 28 points in the Division II era.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets head to the postseason, facing Arkansas-Fort Smith in the first round of the Heartland Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at 2:30 at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Newman will be the seventh seed, while UAFS locked up the second seed.
