WICHITA, Kan. — Finding its offense after seeing a lead dwindle in the second half, the Newman women's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak by besting Oklahoma Panhandle State 63-43 in Heartland Conference action Thursday evening at Fugate Gymnasium.
KEY SEQUENCE
After leading by as much as 15 in the first half, the Jets (10-10, 4-8 Heartland) found themselves up by just eight less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. They answered the run by the Aggies (1-18, 0-11 Heartland) with one of their own, netting six straight points and 13 of the next 15 to shoot out to their largest lead of the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Jets started things off fast, with a Bria DeGrate steal leading eventually to a Melanie George layup off a feed from Cierra Tjaden in the first minute of the game. A DeGrate bucket on the fastbreak made it a 4-0 lead, and helped a 4-of-6 start to the game for Newman, which opened up a 10-2 lead midway through the opening quarter.
-The hosts would not lead by fewer than eight the rest of the half, with a pair of free throws by Brianna Caldwell after a technical on the OPSU bench making it a 10-point game with 3:50 on the clock. Freebies by Iva Krstevska followed by an offensive rebound and putback by Melody McLaughlin as the horn sounded ended the first quarter with the Jets holding an 18-6 advantage.
-The lead hung around 10 for much of the second quarter, with Caldwell hitting a 3-pointer to bump the lead to 22-10 at the 5:59 mark, which kept the lead in double digits for the rest of the half. Tjaden made it a 12-point game once again with a pair of free throws, as did a Robinson layup.
-A 13-point lead at the break quickly jumped to a 15-point advantage on a stick-back by George on the first possession of the third quarter. Robinson got two more second-chance points for the Jets after a Tjaden offensive board to make it 15 points once again at 31-16 just over two minutes into the second half.
-The Aggies pulled the deficit back down to 10 at three different points in the third quarter, including on a layup in the final seconds to make it 39-29, which let the guests cut the lead to eight twice early in the first quarter. A layup from Natalia Hausmann after a Robinson steal bumped the lead back to double digits with 7:46 left, and the Jets kept it there the rest of the way.
-That bucket started a 13-2 run out of Newman, with Lizzy Harrison going for four points during the stretch and Hausmann adding four of her own. By the time the Jets got done with their burst, the lead was 54-35 with 3:26 to play.
NOTES
-Robinson put up her first double-double of the season with an 11-point, 10-rebound effort. The senior's previous season-high in rebounds was five, and she added five assists and two steals as well to one of her best efforts of the season.
-DeGrate put up a career-high 17 points for the second straight game and scored at least 13 for the third time in four games. The freshman shot 6-of-13 from the field and posted six rebounds and a game-high three steals.
-After closing the first half on a cold streak, the Jets finished out the game shooting just about as hot has they have all season, hitting 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) over the final two quarters to turn an eight-point lead into a 20-point margin.
-Hausmann netted 10 points and seven rebounds, matching a season-high in boards, while Tjaden hit two of her three shots to finish the night with six points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets get another game at home Saturday, facing the top team in the nation in undefeated Lubbock Christian at 1 p.m.
