WORTHINGTON -- A 23-4 surge midway the first half Saturday night propelled the Minnesota West Lady Jays to a 41-20 halftime lead and a huge 83-45 victory over the Hibbing Cardinals in the second round of the Sixth Annual Sanford Regional Worthington Basketball Classic.
All eight players who dressed for the Lady Jays scored, including four who netted double figures. Alyssa Smith led Minnesota West with 21 points, while Brooke Kramer (19), Rachel Pavelko (15) and Sam Lynn (13) also provided steady scoring contributions.
LoRel Christensen (six), Kristina Skorepa (four), Jenna Donkersloot (three) and Breanna Rients (two) combined for 15 more points for the Lady Jays, who turned a tie game (8-8) into a 31-12 advantage by outscoring the Cardinals 23-4 in a near nine-minute span in the first half.
"We took care of business and everyone contributed -- it was a good all-around game for us," Minnesota West head coach Mike Fury said. "We actually got off to kind of a slow start, but then we got things going during that run to take command a little bit and kept on playing at a high level as the game progressed."
Pavelko and Hibbing's Kelly Hams (game-high 22 points) combined to score the game's first 16 points -- eight apiece -- as the score was tied at the 16:08 mark of the opening half. Pavelko's points came on a 3-point play, a 3-pointer from the right wing and a pair of free throws, as she provided an early spark for the Lady Jays.
ADVERTISEMENT
Christensen sank two free throws to give Minnesota West a 10-8 lead with 14:20 on the clock, and the Lady Jays followed with nine consecutive points after that to go up 19-8 with 11:27 remaining. Two free throws by Rients, an offensive-rebound basket by Smith and a layup off a steal at half-court by Pavelko highlighted that sequence.
A 3-point play by Kramer, an interior basket by Donkersloot off an assist from Lynn, and a bucket off a power move in the lane by Smith helped Minnesota West open up a 27-12 lead with 6:16 to play. Lynn followed with an assist to Smith for a fast-break basket and a layup off a steal to stretch the gap to 31-12 with 5:29 left.
The Lady Jays maintained a near 20-point lead for the rest of the half, as Christensen scored off dishes from Pavelko and Rients to help create a 41-20 margin at halftime.
Skorepa started the second half by sealing her defender and scoring on the left block, and Smith later scored twice on a couple of nifty post moves to increase the Lady Jays' lead to 50-24 with 15:48 to play.
Lynn scored on a smooth runner in the lane to beat the shot clock and then dished to Kramer for a transition basket -- the first two of eight straight points for Kramer in a span of 2:36 -- to put Minnesota West up 57-33 with 11:50 left.
Kramer, who scored 15 points in the final 12 minutes, gave Minnesota West its first 30-point lead (63-33) with a steal and a coast-to-coast layup at the 9:14 mark. Kramer later scored a pair of baskets in the paint off passes from Lynn, and Skorepa scored inside, as the Lady Jays built the game's largest bulge (79-38) with three minutes remaining.
Minnesota West (2-1) hosts Iowa Lakes Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
Hibbing 20 25 -- 45
ADVERTISEMENT
MN West 41 42 -- 83
Hibbing (3PT-2PT-FT-TP): Easley 0-1-0-2, Stenlund 0-1-2-4, Turk 0-3-2-8, Nyberg 2-0-3-9, Hams 2-6-4-22. Totals: 4-11-11-45.
West (3PT-2PT-FT-TP): Pavelko 1-4-4-15, Rients 0-0-2-2, Kramer 0-6-7-19, Smith 0-8-5-21, Lynn 0-4-5-13, Christensen 0-2-2-6, Donkersloot 0-1-1-3, Skorepa 0-2-0-4. Totals: 1-27-26-83.
