Big Third Quarter Wins It For Lady Jackets

by Abigail Hintz

The No. 17 Cedarville Lady Jackets (17-2) took down the Trevecca University Trojans (3-4) 82-75 Thursday evening in the annual Play4Kay pink game for their second straight win after their 16-game win streak was snapped by Tiffin last week. Cedarville still sits comfortably at the top of the G-MAC standings and looks on track to host and win the G-MAC Championship this March.

Trevecca put up a tough fight against the dominant Jackets, especially considering the Trojans had only played six games coming into Thursday’s contest.

The Lady Jackets were led by senior Ashlyn Huffman on the cusp of a double-double with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists. She was followed by junior Emily Chapman with 11 points and seven assists and sophomore Paige Garr with 10 points. Junior Lexi Moore also had six points and seven rebounds.

The Jackets as a whole went 14-33 from the field and 7-16 from deep.

It was a rough start for Cedarville as sophomore Isabelle Bolender limped off after the first play of the game – an unwelcome sight for the Lady Jackets who have been led by the guard lately.

It took the Jackets a while to settle in after Bolender left. Trevecca went up 8-6 early before the Jackets regained the lead and didn’t lose it the rest of the quarter. Senior Stevie Johnting contributed two clutch 3-pointers to keep the Jackets rolling. The other half of the senior duo, Huffman, followed her up with five points of her own.

Bolender was able to reenter with three minutes to play in the quarter. They finished the first up 20-18.

While the Trojans never took the lead, the Jackets couldn’t maintain a comfortable one. With two and a half minutes to play the Trojans tied it at 33, but Huffman had a steal and a layup to put the Jackets back ahead. They tied it again at 35 and Moore gave them the lead yet again, but they were in need of something to help them pull away. Huffman led at the half with seven points and four rebounds followed by three different players contributing six points. The Jackets were only up 37-35 at the half.

The Jackets came out of the locker room with more urgency, going up 45-38 in the first three minutes. Chapman and Huffman combined for three consecutive 3-pointers to give the Jackets their biggest lead so far at 51-40 with six minutes to play in the quarter.

Huffman more than doubled her point total in the first half of the third quarter at 15. It was over half the amount the team as a whole had scored in the quarter as well. The whole team was working more cohesively and they finished it out up a whopping 72-52.

The Trojans kept the Jackets to just four points for the first four minutes but their offense was not posing a threat. Though the Trojans won the quarter 23-10 Cedarville still took the contest 82-75.

The Lady Jackets are back in Callan on Saturday to take on Kentucky Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m.

Abigail Hintz is a junior Journalism major and the Sports and Digital Editor for Cedars. She loves reading, playing Spikeball with her friends and watching soccer 24/7.