WICHITA, Kan. – A strong second quarter was enough as the Newman women's basketball team held off a late Arkansas-Fort Smith scare 60-54 on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 2). The Jets finish the regular season 19-9 and finish second in the Heartland Conference with a 10-4 record.
Another slow start looked to be the case for the Jets in the opening quarter as the Lions jumped out to an early 6-0 run through the first 2:13, until senior guard, Bria DeGrate connected on one of her two first half three pointers breaking the NU cold spell. The Jets would even the score two different times in the opening quarter, but the Lions continued to maintain the lead 16-14 after the first.
Despite never leading in the opening quarter things changed quickly for the Jets as the offense picked up. DeGrate started the offensive surge scoring the first five Jets points to begin the second quarter giving Newman their first lead of the game 24-21 with 8:21 to play. The outside surge was just getting started as Abbey George connected on her first three-pointer of the year, while Kaitlyn Potter added in two of her games five treys with 7-seconds left in the quarter giving Newman a 31-23 lead heading into the break. The Newman defensive pressure picked up heavily in the second quarter forcing seven of the Lions 12 first half turnovers.
A sluggish start to begin the third quarter left the door open for the Lions as they scored the first six points cutting the Newman lead to 31-29. After being held scoreless for the first 2:39 of the third quarter, Potter connected on a pair of trey's during an 11-2 run extending the Jets lead to double-digits 42-31. DeGrate gave Newman their largest lead of the game 47-34 with 2-seconds left after converting 1-of-2 from the free throw line, however the Lions would seize the momentum as a long heave at the buzzer fell trimming the Jets lead to 47-37.
In the fourth quarter, a 0-for-7 shooting drought over 4:29 made things interesting as the Lions cut the Jets lead to 51-49 with 4:04 to play during a 10-0 run. A. George ended the scoreless drought with a layup during a brief 4-0 run giving Newman some breathing room 55-49 with 1:47 to play. The Jets held off the late Lions rally knocking down 5-of-8 free throws down the stretch securing a 60-54 win.
Bria DeGrate led the Jets with 20 points while recording seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in the effort. Kaitlyn Potter scored 16 points off the bench on 5-of-11 three point shooting while recording seven rebounds. Abbey George finished just shy of a double-double recording 12 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes.
The Jets will head to Tulsa, Okla. for the Heartland Conference Tournament beginning on Thurs. (Mar. 7) at 12:00 p.m. against No. 7 seed Oklahoma Christian. The Jets enter the Heartland Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed.
