WICHITA, Kan. - Hope was in the air. An energized Fugate Gymnasium welcomed Coach Johnson and the new look Newman Jets to the floor against Wayne State Saturday afternoon. However, the Wildcats pulled away from the Jets late to win 72-65.
It was a back and forth contest. Each team had its spurts of success and scoring runs, but the other had an answer. In a typical tight contest, one would say it's the team with the ball last wins, but this afternoon it was the team with the last run. Wayne State pulled away from Newman in the fourth quarter to secure their first win of the season. Newman falls to 0-1 to start the season.
One key separating statistic was free throws. The Jets had only 10 and converted on 6 of them. Wayne State was 21 for 27 at the line. A big factor translating to WSC's ability to get to the line was their ball movement working inside out. Even with that element, Newman's guards were stingy in their defense, holding WSC to 16.7% shooting from deep.
Tiffany Dortland stole the show and awe of the crowd as she scored 27 points in her Newman debut. The Barton County transfer nailed 5 threes and collected 9 boards along with 4 steals to help eliminate Wayne State's perimeter threats. It truly was a coming out party for number 0.
Newman's second half resurgence is what made it a ballgame. It was
Britney Ho's layup that allowed the Jets to even the game at 40 with 4:59 remaining. The Wildcats returned the favor and took a 3 point lead before back to back to back three's by
Amoni White,
Sydney Nilles and
Tiffany Dortland gave the Jets a 6 point lead. Again, the Wildcats stopped the scoring run with a layup before Dortland hammered home another 3 pointer to give the Jets a 7 point lead, their largest of the game.
Midway through the fourth, Newman lost its lead and brought the game within 3 with 19 seconds to go with a Nilles' jumper before 4 made free throws put away the game for WSC.
Sydney Nilles finished with 9 point and 7 assists while
Faith Mason-Vestal had 10 points and 9 boards. Three near double-double performances bodes well for the young season with Dortland, Mason-Vestal and Nilles leading the way for Newman.
The Jets return to action Sunday in Fugate Gymnasium vs. University of Mary at 2 PM.
