FOREST CITY, IA (JimmieAthletics.com) – The sixth-ranked Jimmie women’s basketball team, who trailed by as many eight points early in the third quarter, used a fourth-quarter comeback to end any hopes of an upset by the Waldorf University Warriors, winning 63-61 Saturday afternoon.
Jamestown’s victory keeps them undefeated (11-0) in the North Star Athletic Association while improving their overall mark to 22-3. Waldorf falls to 2-8 in the conference and 5-15 overall.
The Warriors held UJ to just seven points in the first quarter on the way to a 13-7 lead. The Jimmies shot 3-of-19 from the field and 1-of-3 three from the foul line in the opening period.
Allison Jablonsky (SO/Blaine, MN) hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 17, then sank a bucket on the Jimmies’ next possession, giving UJ a 19-17 advantage with 4:43 in the half. Two ties and four lead changes later, Waldorf took a 26-24 advantage into the halftime break.
Back-to-back long range shots by Michaela Graffunder to open the third quarter put the Warriors ahead 32-24 and appeared to shift momentum the way of the home team. An unwavering Jimmie squad went on a 9-0 run and retook the lead on a Jory Mullen (JR/Pierre, SD) basket with 7:15. The lead would change seven more times in the quarter, with Waldorf going ahead 42-41 with 37 seconds left.
Jenna Doyle (JR/Princeton, MN) scored the first basket of the fourth to bring the Jimmies within a point, 46-45, then Taylor Fricke sank a pair of free throws to give Waldorf a three-point lead. Marina Nowak(JR/Rogers, MN)’s back-to-back baskets made it 49-48 UJ at the 7:25 mark, and the Jimmies would hold on to the lead until Ameh Ogbemudia’s bucket with 2:04 remaining put the Warriors back in front, 59-58.
Mullen scored with 1:44 left as the Jimmies retook the lead 60-59, then a pair of Bryn Woodside (SR/Albert Lea, MN) free throws made it 62-59. Ogbemudia made two foul shots with 70 seconds left to make it a one point game yet again, but Woodside made one of two free throws with just over a second on the clock to extend the lead to two. Fricke’s three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good, and Jamestown escaped with the victory.
Woodside had 15 points and 4 steals to lead the Jimmies. Paige Emmel(SR/Bismarck, ND) added 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Jory Mullen finished with 12 points, and Allison Jablonsky ended with 9 points and 3 assists. Jenna Doyle pulled down 9 rebounds and blocked 6 shots, becoming the Jimmies’ career leader in that category. Doyle broke the previous record of 114 career blocks, set by Lindsey Ness from 2002-2006.
Graffunder, Fricke, and Ogbemudia all had 14 points for Waldorf. Ogbemudia grabbed 10 boards to record the double-double.
Neither team shot particularly well, with Waldorf holding a 35.6-35.4 percent advantage. The Jimmies connected on only five of 20 three-point attempts and were 12 of 20 (60 percent) at the free-throw line. Rebounds were 45-41 in favor of UJ, and turnovers were even at 14.
Jamestown travels to Dickinson State (N.D.) on February 1.