WICHITA, Kan. — Closing strong and withstanding a finish that saw all sorts of twists and turns, the Newman women's basketball survived with a 70-67 victory over Oklahoma Christian Saturday afternoon in Heartland Conference action.
KEY SEQUENCE
The Jets (14-8, 5-3 Heartland) bounced back in front on an Abbey George layup with 36 seconds left, but the game was far from over. Maddison Collyer tied it at 67-all inside of 10 seconds for the Eagles (5-14, 1-6 Heartland), but Dede Johnson answered at the other end with a free throw, and forced a turnover at the other end to get the ball back in her team's hands. An OC technical netted another point for the Jets, who were able to hold on.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Oklahoma Christian jumped out to a fast start in the first quarter, going up 9-5 by the midway point of the quarter, and using a 5-0 burst to make it a 16-9 game late in the frame. Bria DeGrate sank a pair of free throws to cut it back to a five-point game with 11 seconds left in the period, but a 3-pointer from the Eagles opened the second and started an 8-3 run.
-It took the Jets a little while to break out of their early funk, falling behind by as much as 12 with 3:24 left in the first half. Back-to-back baskets from Rylee Meloy and Haley Albers helped get the hosts going in the right direction, and Hannah Alexander did her part as well, netting seven straight points in a span of just over a minute to make it 34-31.
-Alexander wound up scoring nine consecutive Newman points, helping a run that wound up covering over five minutes across halftime and finished up 21-4 in favor of the Jets. A Johnson layup with 7:44 left in the third gave Newman the lead for the first time at 37-35, and 3-pointers from Johnson and Albers in less than a minute suddenly had it a 45-38 lead at the 6:14 mark.
-The Eagles wouldn't let Newman pull away with a lead though, scoring in spurts around a Braxtyn Stewart 3-pointer and Alexander jumper to move back in front 60-58 with 5:07 left to play. Addy Clift poured in five straight points for OC to put them up five with 2:42 to play, but Johnson followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession to start the Jets on their final surge.
NOTES
-Newman's 21-4 run that allowed them to jump back into the game saw the Jets shoot 5-of-7 from the field while holding the Eagles to 1-of-8 and forcing five turnovers.
-Johnson played a season-high 33 minutes, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, three rebounds, an assist and zero turnovers.
-Alexander finished with 19 points, while Albers (11) and DeGrate (10) also scored in double figures.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets wrap up their homestand with a rematch against Arkansas-Fort Smith Wednesday evening at Fugate Gymnasium.
