For the first time this season the William Jewell women's basketball team swept a weekend GLVC series as they rallied to top Maryville 75-62 Saturday afternoon on the road. The Cardinals move to 9-13 overall, 4-7 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference while the Saints fall to 9-9, and 3-8 in the league.
The teams played a back-and-forth first half, with neither taking more than a four point lead. Maryville looked as though they were beginning to run away with the game as they built an ten point advantage with 5:46 to play in the third quarter. From there however, the Cardinals took over. After forcing the Saints into just three first quarter turnovers Jewell forced four over the final four mintues of the third period, including a steal and layup by
Maddie Nelson as the buzzer sounded that turned the momentum for good and pulled the Cardinals with five at 50-45.
The fourth quarter belonged to Jewell senior guard
Zinka Duric as she put in 13 of her team-high 17 over the final ten minutes of the game, including three shots from a foot behind the men's three-point line. On the day, Duric was 5-6 from the floor, 3-4 from behind the arc, and 4-4 from the free throw line on the way to her season-high.
As a team Jewell outscored the Saints 30-12 in the final frame to go from down 11 in the second half to up by as many as 16 with under a minute to play.
The Cardinals outrebounded Maryville 41-37 including pulling down five offensive boards in the fourth quarter which led to 11 second chance points.
Jewell had three other players alongside Duric to score in double-figures with Nelson putting in 14 points, to go along with seven rebounds, and seven assists.
Madison Campbell added 12 points and eight rebounds while sophomore
Lindsey McCoy posted career-highs of 11 points and eight boards.
The bench was again instrumental for the Cards as they outscored the Maryville bench 21-16. Jewell also committed just 11 turnovers, their second lowest of the season while forcing the Saints into 19.
Up next for the Cardinals is a trip north to Kenosha, Wis. to take on the Rangers of Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Cardinals will then travel to Romeoville, Ill. to take on No. 9 Lewis on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
