WICHITA – Home court. Senior Day. Meaningful basketball in February. It's all one could ever ask for in the city of Wichita. That's just what we got inside of Fugate Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Newman squared off against the Central Oklahoma Bronchos for a shot at making the MIAA Tournament for the first time in program history (MIAA since 2019-20). The Jets got the help they needed with Emporia State downing Washburn in the Turnpike Tussle. It was all on the shoulders of Newman, win and in.
Standing at 998 career points, it took
Britney Ho just one shot from deep to surpass the 1,000 point scoring mark. The three-pointer at 8:43 in the first quarter gave Ho a status not reached by many. Between her first two seasons at Northeastern State and the past two at Newman, the Bishop Carroll graduate sits at 1018 points scored.
The lead gained by the Jets, although squandered to tie score on four different occasions, was never taken from them. The Jets battled the Bronchos for 40 tough minutes to clinch their first ever berth in the MIAA Tournament.
The Jets secured the victory behind a 7-point outburst by
Lauryn Dubbert in just 58 seconds from 2:55 to 1:57 remaining in the fourth. As the final horn sounded, the Jets walked away victorious 72-66.
Ho recorded a double-double in what capped a historic season for #33. Ho's 20 points were trailed be
Carissa Beck with 15, Dubbert with 12 and Amya Josey who had a monstrous 11 points and 7 rebounds coming off the bench.
This win was the biggest in the coach
Drew Johnson era of Newman Women's Basketball. In his first season, Johnson tallied just three wins. Johnson proved to be the man for the task this season. After a summer of recruiting 9 Jets to join just 7 returners, the turnaround finished ahead of schedule in year two. Being slated to finish tied 13
th in all preseason polls for the MIAA, the Jets earned a ninth place finish after amassing a 10-17 (7-15 MIAA) record. Seven wins in MIAA is the best win total Newman has earned in just its fourth year of membership and first as a full member.
As for what's next, the Jets will head to Kansas City for a date with the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. The matchup between the eight and nine seeded teams will begin at approximately 6 PM on Wednesday, March 1
st. Tickets for single sessions will be on sale through Wednesday for $20. Email
rohlederm@newmanu.edu or
brakez@newmanu.edu to secure your ticket.
