Sports

Ladyjacks sweep at classic

By Tyler Ohmann

12/13/2011

The Ladyjacks traveled to Bismarck for the Lane Johnson Memorial tournament and came away unscathed as they beat both Turtle Mountain Community College and Jamestown JV.

The Ladyjacks began their super weekend by torching TMCC 99-52 on Friday afternoon.

Dakota College at Bottineau used several weapons to shoot 54 percent from three point range and had six players score in double figures in the win.

Jackie Miller led the charge with 16 points. Megan Green had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Others with double-digit point efforts were: Josie Degagne (15), Kayla Nelsen (13), Shakira Walker (12) and Jordyn Sondrol (10).

Walker also had five assists, five steals and four rebounds.

Every player on the DCB roster recorded a basket in the 47-point win.

“We came out and played excellent basketball the last 20 minutes,” Head Coach Wayne Johnson stated. “We picked up our defensive intensity and then started knocking down shots.  It got contagious and we had a very good effort out of all ten players.”

Johnson was especially pleased with the bench play.

“The bench again added some spark to our play when we needed it,” Johnson stated. “We need that type of play to help us improve our inside game both offensively and defensively.”  

The Ladyjacks carried the momentum from Friday’s win to down Jamestown JV 63-61 in their final game of the tournament.

Despite trailing at halftime the Ladyjacks continued effort got them the lead in the second half, and they held on to finish out a win.

“We were out played by the Jimmies for 30 minutes but to the credit of our ladies they hung in, battled and came back with a really good last 10 minutes,” Johnson stated.

The Ladyjacks used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to propel them to the win.

“I was really proud of how we pulled together on a night when the going was tough,” Johnson stated. “Our “Manu Ginobili” (Kayla Nelsen) came through again with a big effort off the bench.  She sparked us with some big baskets when needed.”

Nelsen finished with 13 points. Miller again led the Ladyjacks with 14 points; she also added eight rebounds. Green got her second straight double-double as she led the Ladyjacks with 13 rebounds and also had 12 points. Sondrol had 11 points in the Ladyjacks win.

“We needed that type of effort as the Jimmies did a good job on Jackie (Miller),” Johnson stated. “We had to grind it out in this game and it’s a good character builder when we can get the job done.”

The wins pushed the Ladyjacks record to 9-5. The Ladyjacks finished off the first part of their season before semester break at 6 p.m. last night. Stats were unavailable at press time.