WICHITA, Kan. – A pair of winning streaks came to an end Thursday evening (Jan. 24) inside Fugate Gymnasium as the Newman women's basketball team suffered a rare home loss, 85-81 to Oklahoma Christian. The Jets drop to 12-6 on the season snapping their five game winning streak and end their three game conference winning streak falling to 3-1 in Heartland play.
Following seven-straight points, five of which coming from sophomore Braxtyn Stewart, the Jets would jump out to their largest lead of the game 10-0 on a Dede Johnson triple just 2:14 into the opening quarter. After the Eagles cut the lead down to six points, junior Kaitlyn Potter dialed one up from long distance stretching the lead back out to nine just under the halfway point in the quarter. The Eagles however countered back closing the quarter with a 10-2 trimming the Newman lead to just one.
After falling behind just 19-seconds into the second quarter, the Jets stormed right back regaining a four-point advantage with six straight points coming inside the paint. Just as the Eagles continued to fight back, a Bria DeGrate steal and layup stretched the Jets lead back out to five points just before the midway point in the second quarter. Just under two minutes left in the half, a Potter layup would put the Jets back in-front for the final time, 34-32 as the Eagles closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, taking a 39-34 lead into the locker rooms.
The Eagles would jump out to their largest lead of the game 44-34, scoring the first five-points to open the third quarter. DeGrate would put an end to the 12-0 Eagles run stretching back to the end of the second quarter converting on an old fashion three-point play trimming the OCU lead to just eight, 44-36. The Jets would stay within striking distance after Haley Albers drilled back-to-back three-pointers cutting the Eagles lead down to just four, 51-47 at the midway point of the third quarter. The Eagles would maintain a 61-55 lead to end the third quarter after the two teams would trade baskets for the final 3:15.
Three-point shooting continued to give Newman a chance in the final quarter after another pair of Albers triples cut the Eagles lead to a one possession ballgame, 67-65 early in the fourth. After the Eagles responded back making it a two possession game, DeGrate connected on the Jets third, triple of the quarter cutting the deficit to one 69-68 with 6:37 to play. After staying within one possession for the majority of the final quarter, a game tying three-point attempt by Potter fell just short grazing the front of the rim bouncing into the Eagles arms. The Eagles would put the late Jets rally to rest sinking one-of-two free throw attempts with 6-seconds left.
The Jets finished with four players in double-digit scoring. Senior, Bria DeGrate led the way for the Jets finishing with 20 points, while pulling down 6 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists and forcing 4 steals in 34 minutes of play. Abbey George finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds and sat a new career high with 7 assists. Haley Albers added in 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the three-point line in the second half. Braxtyn Stewart finished with 11 points in 33 minutes.
The Jets will hit the road late tonight as they get set to play six of their next seven games out on the road. The Jets will begin the stretch of road games Saturday afternoon (Jan. 26) against St. Edward's. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. inside the Recreation and Convocation Center in Austin, Texas.
