WORTHINGTON -- Scoring 52 second-half points Saturday afternoon, the Rochester Yellowjackets women's basketball team gained a Minnesota Community College Conference victory over the Minnesota West Lady Jays, 83-71.
Brittany Gladis sparked Rochester (7-2, 17-8) with a game-high 31 points, including 18 in the final 20 minutes.
"We did a better job of taking care of the ball and getting it inside to Gladis in the second half," Rochester head coach Steve Hucke said following the game. "Minnesota West has a nice team, and it was good to see some other players step up and contribute to our victory today."
Kasie Heimer scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, while Jessica O'Leary and Courtney Thompson also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 respective points.
The game's initial 15 minutes saw the two teams exchange the lead 10 times -- the largest margin was 15-9 in favor of Rochester with 12:14 remaining.
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Minnesota West (4-5, 9-15) -- which hit 11 3-pointers in the game and made 16-of-22 free throws in the first half -- went on a 14-7 surge late in the first half to turn a 24-all tie (with 5:07 left) into a 38-31 halftime lead.
Jacinta Boever -- who scored 17 of her team-best 19 points in the first half -- and Amanda Nash (14 points) fueled the Lady Jays in that stretch with seven points apiece.
Stacy Bush (14 points) opened the second half by firing in a deep 3-pointer before Rosie Lewis (11 points) scored off a nice give-and-go play with Boever, helping the Lady Jays to their third 10-point lead of the game (43-33) with 18:24 to play.
However, Rochester scored 18 of the next 26 points to tie the game at 51-all with 11:12 remaining after Heimer's steal and ensuing layup.
Katie Soderholm answered with a 3-pointer to give the Lady Jays a 54-51 lead, but back-to-back hoops by Heimer and Thompson gave the Yellowjackets a 55-54 edge with 9:55 to play -- their first lead since they led 24-22 with just over five minutes to play in the first half.
Gladis followed with a 3-pointer, and Rochester appeared set to bust the game wide open. But Minnesota West stayed close and cut the lead to 65-63 on a Bush 3-pointer with 5:51 to play.
After seven straight Rochester points pushed the lead to 72-63, Bush hit another trey before Nash banked one in from beyond the arc while being fouled. Her ensuing free throw made it 72-70 with 3:08 showing on the clock
Heimer responded by scoring off a pass from Abby Lindquist before Gladis threw in a turnaround jumper high off the glass to help extend Rochester's lead to 76-71 with 1:36 to play.
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O'Leary hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds later before Gladis scored inside and hit two free throws to secure the victory for the Yellowjackets.
"We played hard and played a very good first half," Minnesota West head coach Mike Fury said. "We broke down defensively a little bit in the second half, but it was a good game for us."
The Lady Jays host Riverland Wednesday in their final regular-season home game.
Rochester 31 52 -- 83
Minnesota West 38 33 -- 71
Rochester (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Jajowka 1-1-2-7, Thompson 1-2-3-10, LaBrash 0-1-0-2, Heimer 0-7-1-15, O'Leary 3-1-0-11, Beadles 0-1-0-2, Bicknese 0-1-3-5, Gladis 3-9-4-31. Totals: 8-23-13-83.
Minnesota West (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Nash 4-0-2-14, Jansen 0-1-2-4, Bush 4-1-0-14, Lewis 0-4-3-11, Williams 0-1-4-6, Boever 2-3-7-19, Soderholm 1-0-0-3. Totals: 11-10-18-71.
Men
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Rochester 91,
Minnesota West 83
WORTHINGTON -- Going on a 21-4 run in the second half, the league-leading Rochester Yellowjackets men's basketball team opened up a 23-point lead before holding off a late surge from the Minnesota West Bluejays in a key Minnesota Community College Conference matchup.
"You can't fall behind by that much and expect to beat a very good team like that," Minnesota West head coach Justin Heckenlaible said following the game. "We made a nice comeback, but we were down by too much."
Rochester (10-1, 21-4; ranked third in country) blitzed the Bluejays over a span of five minutes, 21 seconds in the second half, turning a 50-44 lead into a 71-48 bulge with 12:38 left.
Darrin Loewenhagen (18 points) started the burst with a 3-pointer before forward Rochester Rogers (16 points) scored inside, Sean Clarke (22 points) hit four free throws and a 3-pointer, and Lucas Blood knocked down an 18-foot baseline jumper to make it 64-48 with 15:11 left (Cornelius Bardney and Chris Aggen each scored for the Bluejays).
A layup by Matt Gangelhoff (13 points), another trey from Clarke and a putback hoop by Blood (14 points) capped the burst and gave Rochester a 71-48 lead.
However, Cameron Barlowe (game-best 26 points) spearheaded a rally by the Bluejays, who gradually trimmed the 23-point deficit down to six (81-75) with 2:19 to play.
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Barlowe scored two quick hoops before Michael Riley (13 points) and Bardney each scored inside to help Minnesota West pull within 16 (73-57) with 8:24 to play.
A three-point play from Kanir Jackson started an 11-4 surge, which was capped by a spectacular left-handed reverse layup by Riley to make it 77-68 with 4:25 left.
Lu Mendez then drew a charge on Gangelhoff before Bluejay Gordy Sanford banked in a shot. Barlowe followed with a layup and a 3-pointer from the left wing to counter a pair of free throws from both Loewenhagen and Adam Huntley, making it 81-75 with 2:19 remaining.
Gangelhoff and Barlowe exchanged layups before Loewenhagen and Clarke each made a free throw. The Bluejays' Eddie Marrs (12 points) scored on a drive to make the score 85-79 with 29 seconds left.
After two more free throws from Loewenhagen, Marrs scored on another drive. After Gangelhoff and Doty exchanged layups, Loewenhagen hit a pair from the line with 3.9 seconds left to seal the victory.
The Bluejays (5-5, 11-11) also host Riverland Wednesday.
Rochester 45 46 -- 91
Minnesota West 40 43 -- 83
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Rochester (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Gangelhoff 1-5-0-13, Bishop 0-1-0-2, Clarke 2-4-8-22, Blood 0-6-2-14, Loewenhagen 1-3-9-18, Rogers 0-7-2-16, Huntley 0-1-4-6. Totals: 4-27-25-91.
Minnesota West (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Traphagen 1-0-0-3, Jackson 0-2-1-5, Aggen 0-1-0-2, Doty 0-2-2-6, Barlowe 2-8-4-26, Bardney 0-2-3-7, Marrs 0-6-0-12, Sanford 0-4-0-8, Isder 0-0-1-1, Riley 1-4-2-13. Totals: 4-29-13-83.
