Jimmies come away with win in final seconds

Hannah DeMars (JR/Grand Rapids, MN) scored with three seconds remaining to break a 69-all tie and lead the University of Jamestown women's basketball team to a 71-69 win over Dickinson State (N.D.) University in non-conference action Friday night at Harold Newman Arena.

The Jimmies won their sixth straight game, improving to 10-4 overall while the Blue Hawks fall to 2-13.

Noelle Josephson (SR/Ramsey, MN) led UJ with 14 points and was joined in double figures by DeMars with 13 points and Kia Tower (JR/Bigfork, MN) with 10. Jailyn Martinson (FR/Devils Lake, ND) added 12 points off the bench.

DSU opened the game on a 13-2 run after a Lindsay Peterson three-pointer at the 4:20 mark of the first. Tower drilled a three-pointer on the Jimmies' next trip down the floor, beginning a 9-0 run capped off by a Martinson bucket to cut the lead to 13-11.

The second quarter saw Jamestown maintain the lead until Ashlie Watts drew the Blue Hawks level with a three-pointer 3:05 before halftime, then McKenzie Johnson buried a three for a 28-25 lead. DSU went into halftime with a 30-28 advantage.

After the break, Dickinson State would lead by as many as four, but the Jimmies went ahead 43-41 after a DeMars basket, then pushed the lead to five after Sarah Lenz (FR/Belle Plaine, MN) canned a corner three to make it 46-41.

DeMars and Tower each made threes on the other side of another Johnson triple for a 69-64 Jimmie lead with 24 seconds left. Kailyn Groves cut the lead to three on the Blue Hawks' next possession, then Shali Sheridan came up with a steal and hit a clutch three with nine seconds remaining to tie the game at 69.

Following a UJ timeout, Tower dribbled to her right near the top of the key and found a cutting DeMars, who laid the ball up and in for the go-ahead points. Watts launched a desparation three-point attempt at the buzzer, but came up short and the Jimmies got their tenth win of the year.

Jordynn Toliver (JR/Box Elder, SD) had a team-high seven rebounds for Jamestown, while Martinson, Josephson, Tower, and Megan Oswald (FR/Brownsdale, MN) each passed out two assists.

Groves finished with a game-high 20 points for DSU, which had three other players in double figures.

Jamestown will play an exhibition game in Fargo against NCAA Division 1 North Dakota State University Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.