Jimmies hoopers mount late comeback in 73-64 win over Mayville

Oct. 28—JAMESTOWN — After a lackluster first half in which the University of Jamestown shot 35% from the field, they flipped the switch in the second half, shooting 53% on their way to a 73-64 win over Mayville State University on Thursday, Oct. 27, at John L. Wilson Arena.

"I think we really started to work together," Jimmies guard Kate Busek said. "We slowed down the pace and looked for each other and allowed each other to get good shots that helped us go on a run."

The Jimmies (1-0) were also outrebounded in the first half 23-21, with 17 of the Comets' rebounds coming on the defensive end. In the second half, the Jimmies turned it around to win the rebounding battle 41-38, with 31 of the Jimmies' rebounds coming on the defensive end. Jimmies head coach Thad Sankey said he spoke to his team a lot about rebounding before the game and at halftime.

The Jimmies sprinted out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Comets (0-1) went on a run thanks to some early foul trouble from the Jimmies to cut it to 13-7. After the Jimmies stretched the lead back out to 17-10, the Comets ended the first quarter on a 9-1 run though to go into the break up 19-18, punctuated by a corner three from Jes Mertens to give the Comets their first lead of the game.

The Jimmies shooting struggles continued into the second quarter. In the second 15 minutes, the Jimmies shot 23% from the field. The Jimmies did turn it on late though as out of a timeout with 50 seconds left, the Jimmies' Audrey Rodakowski hit a layup to cut the Comets' lead to 36-29 before Hannah DeMars got a steal at the other end and it found its way to Kia Tower who splashed the corner three to make it 36-32 with 20 seconds to go in the first half.

The Jimmies started hitting shots midway through the third quarter, going on a big run sparked by a timely three from Sarah Lenz to cut the deficit to 51-45 with 3:44 to go in the third quarter. The Comets lost track of Jordan Zrust late in the fourth quarter and she made the Jimmies pay driving in and hitting the runner to push her team's lead out to 56-50.

The Jimmies would not go quietly though as they opened the fourth quarter with a DeMars and-one to cut the deficit to 56-53. After the teams traded the next few points, the Jimmies took their first lead since 18-16, on a three from Kate Busek to make it 61-58 with 6:47 to go in the game. The Jimmies stretched the lead out on a three by Kate Cordes to make it 64-60 with 4:55 to go.

"It felt really good to let it go and see it go in and that helped when everyone was hitting," Busek said.

The Jimmies showed off their depth 10 players in the win. But the Jimmies' three highest point-getters were seniors DeMars and Tower and junior Rodakowski.

"We even have more depth," Sankey said. "I thought we were a little short in our rotation. We have younger players that have earned more minutes than they got tonight. Taya Jeffrey earned more minutes than she got tonight, Reagan Johnson, are players that we feel like we're going to get good rotation minutes out of this year. For me, I just trusted our experienced players in a high-competition opener. Sometimes you just have roll with who you know the best and when we have so many returners we can do that."

The Jimmies are back in action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1, when they go to Presentation College.

MSU 64, UJ 73

MSU: 19 19 18 8 — 64

UJ: 18 14 18 23 — 73

Points leaders:

MSU: Jordan Zrust 25, Jes Mertens 11, CJ Decker 9

UJ: Hannah DeMars 21, Audrey Rodakowski 12, Kia Tower 12

Assists leaders:

MSU: Decker 5, Mackenzie Hughes 2, Mertens 2, Zrust 2

UJ: Tower 7, DeMars 3, Kate Cordes 3

Rebounding leaders:

MSU: Zrust 13, Decker 4, Hughes 3, Erin Walcker 3

UJ: DeMars 11, Kate Busek 8, Rodakowski 4, Tower 4, Cordes 4, Hannah Hagel 4