WICHITA, Kan. – In the first game of the Hall of Fame weekend, the Newman women's basketball team won an exciting 77-76 contest over Arkansas-Fort Smith Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium.
 
KEY SEQUENCE
 
It was a tale of two halves for both the Jets (16-8, 6-6 Heartland) and the Lions (12-10, 7-4 Heartland), with Newman controlling the first half and UAFS with the second with crucial runs coming throughout the game. The Jets would trail in the fourth quarter but would fight back to recapture the lead late. UAFS would tie the game up with less than 30 seconds to go, but a Cierra Tjaden free throw would be enough to win 77-76.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

-Hannah Alexander would get a pair of free throws to go to get the first points of the game on the board for either team, followed by a Natalia Hausmann layup to put the score at 4-0 with 7:37 left in the first quarter.
 
-An 11-4 run in the middle portion of the first quarter would get the Jets out to a 15-8 lead with 4:30 on the clock. Mali Wright would lead the way during the run with six points, while Iva Krstevska added three and Alexander chipped in two.
 
-Newman would stretch its lead out to 28-15 thanks to an 11-0 run that began late in first quarter and ended with 8:44 left in the second quarter. Alexander would get the first four points of the run with two free throws and a jumper, then Krstevska got a layup and DeGrate cashed in two free throws and knocked down a 3-pointer to complete the run.
 
-Another run would come late in the second quarter to give the Jets a 41-25 lead with 1:28 remaining. Alexander, DeGrate and Wright would all have two points each during the 7-0, while Hausmann added one off a free throw. Newman would take a 43-30 lead into intermission.
 
-UAFS would get a big run in the early part of the third quarter to get within six points of the Newman lead but Krstevska would knock down a 3-pointer followed by a Tjaden layup to put the score at 54-43 with 3:56 left in the third quarter. However, the Lions would crawl back into it late in the third quarter and only trail 58-56 heading into the final quarter of play.
 
-The Lions would have a 65-61 lead with 7:15 to go in the game, but an 8-0 run from the Jets would put them back out in front at 69-65 with 5:25 on the clock. Wright led the way with four points during the run, while Alexander and Hausmann would both have two points a piece.
 
-UAFS would tie the game at 76-76 with 29 seconds left off a 3-pointer but Tjaden would be fouled and would hit a free throw to put Newman back up 77-76 with 19 seconds. The Jet defense would force a contested shot in the final seconds and hold on to win the conference game.

LEADERS

Newman
Points: Alexander, 21. Assists: Tjaden, 5. Rebounds: Hausmann, 9. Blocks: Wright, 1. Steals: Hausmann, 4.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith
Points: Micayla Haynes, 19. Assists: Haynes, 5. Maya Perry, 7. Blocks: Tayla Taylor, 2. Steals: Perry, 5.

NOTES

-With the win over the Lions today, the Jets extended their conference winning streak to three games.
 
-Alexander led the way in points with 23, it's the fifth time this season that she has at least scored 20 points in a game.
 
-The victory over UAFS is the first win against them since the 2013-14 season, snapping a six-game losing streak.

WHAT'S NEXT
 
The Jets hit the road for a single game at Oklahoma Panhandle State a week from today.