ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- The Minnesota West women's basketball team found itself in an early hole Tuesday night against the Northwestern junior varsity team.
But the Lady Jays (2-3) battled back within two points before losing, 85-79.
"We played very, very well in the second half," MW head coach Mike Fury said. "We really came back and played a nice half. In the first half we were just slow getting back, that was probably the main difference. In the second half we played much better defense, rebounded real well and shot better, too."
Early on, the two teams traded baskets. However, midway through the first half, the Red Raiders went on a big run to take the lead.
"With six minutes left they were ahead 39-22," Fury said. "We were slow getting back on defense and they shot very well and we didn't shoot very well in the first half. The combination of things put us down by 17 at that one point."
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NW had a 48-33 lead at halftime, but the Lady Jays weren't going quietly.
"We were still down 15 at halftime and came out and hit a couple of buckets and got it to 10 on our first two possessions," Fury said. "Then it stayed 10 to 12 throughout the half and then about the seven-minute mark we made a great run at them. We had it down to two with about 1:10 left. Then we exchanged baskets and at 23 seconds left we had it down to two, and then they hit a three-point play on an inbounds pass."
Sam Lynn finished with a team-high 21 points. Jenna Donkersloot had 13, while Rachel Pavelko and Brooke Kramer each had 12 points for the Lady Jays, who travel to face Sioux Falls on Thursday.
MW 33 46 -- 79
NW JV 48 37 -- 85
MW (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Pavelko 2-3-0-12, Rients 1-0-0-3, Kramer 2-2-2-12, Smith 0-3-5-11, Lynn 5-1-4-21, Christensen 0-2-1-5, Donkersloot 0-6-1-13, Skorepa 0-0-2-2. Totals 10-17-15-79.
NW JV (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Wedel 4-4-0-20, Klinkenborg 0-6-0-12, Engen 0-5-1-10, Johnson 0-2-3-7, Cunard 4-4-8-28, Hovland 0-2-0-4, Mahlam 0-0-1-1. Totals 8-24-13-85.
