The William Jewell women's basketball team avenged an early season loss to crosstown rival Rockhurst on Thursday night, downing the Hawks 70-68. With the win, the Cardinals finish the regular season 14-12 overall, and 10-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Hawks, who finished second in the GLVC West fell to 17-9 and 11-7 in the league play.
On the night, the Cards shot 48.1 percent from the floor, the second highest total of the season, while hitting nine three-point shots to keep pace with the Hawks, who connected on 45.2 percent of their shots. While the two teams played nearly evenly in most statistical categories, it was Jewell's rebounding that helped lead them to the win, as the Cardinals pulled down 38 boards to Rockhurst's 30 and scored 12 second chance points.
Rockhurst started the evening hot, leading 17-12 after one quarter before Jewell put together a 22-15 second period to hold a slight lead of 34-32 at the break. Two big reasons for Jewell's second quarter streak was
Kayla Harrell and
Katie Finn. The duo combined to go 6-for-6 from behind the arc in the first half, and have recently become an outstanding one-two punch from the outside, providing relief for leading scorer
Maddie Nelson.
In the third quarter, Jewell went on a 7-2 run, capped an offensive rebound-put back from
Natalie Closser, to pull ahead 52-44. However, the Hawks strung together six points of the own to put themselves right back in the game. A 15-7 run gave the Cardinals a ten point lead, only to see Rockhurst senior Mary Dineen score six consecutive points to pull within 67-64.
Closser iced the game with a free throw with five seconds remaining to give Jewell the win.
The Cardinals posted balanced scoring led by three players in double-figures. Harrell poured in 19 on 7-of-10 from the floor to go along with eight rebounds. Finn added 16 on 5-of-9 from the floor while Nelson posted 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Closser and
Chris Keys each had seven points with Closser also pulling down seven boards, including five on the offensive end.
With the win, the Cardinals earned the No. 8 seed in the upcoming GLVC Championship Tournament, and ultimately the right to host a first round game. Jewell will host No. 9 seed Indianapolis on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1:00 p.m. in the Mabee Center.
