March 29, 2024

Southwestern wins another close one

Spartan sophomores sent off from home with win

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Yaasmyn Spivey had far from the best offensive performance of Saturday’s game.

But the Southwestern freshman stepped up in a big spot. Spivey knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc off a Chelsi Sams drive and dish that gave the Spartan women a 70-67 lead with about a minute to go in their game with conference opponent Iowa Lakes.

The Spartans fended off the Lakers by a final of 72-67, clinching the win for good with 0.9 seconds left with Sams knocked down two free throws.

“That was huge for us,” Southwestern coach Addae Houston said. “I knew she was capable of hitting that shot. It’s not a shot that she looks for herself that much.”

Spivey scored just five points on 2-of-9 shooting but her last shot came at a critical juncture in the game.

Houston noted that the team has taken to breaking out the shooting machines in practice on the day before games as of late. The players have enjoyed it, and he believes it has paid dividends for their shooting.

Other contributors made big-time shots.

Sams’ free throws were not her only clutch shots. Sams knocked down a corner 3-pointer about halfway through the fourth quarter to give the Spartans only their second lead of the game at 55-54.

The Lakers responded with a Marissa Ruiz trey, just three of her 14 points of the day.

Iowa Lakes’ Gabriella Garcia added on with another triple to increase the lead to 60-55.

It was the Spartans who then found their groove.

Fallyn Beemer knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Spartans within two and scored again when she followed up her own missed shot with a bucket in the lane to tie it with 4:30 to go in the fourth for just a few of her 14 points.

Iowa Lakes went ahead once more on a made Jackie Petrich free throw, but Southwestern scored the next seven points with a bank three by Julanie Carter and consecutive buckets by Eriayana Frazier, who led all scorers with 18. Her run of 12 points in the third quarter got the Spartans back in the game after the 14-point halftime deficit. Frazier also had three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Ruiz nailed another triple for the Lakers and Lauryn Smith knocked down three free throws after being fouled on a three tie the game at 67.

After a loose ball hustle play earned the Spartans the ball, Spivey came up with her clutch three that proved the biggest play of the day.

Ruiz hit a long 3-pointer in the last moments of the first half to send the Lakers into the break up 39-25.

“I wasn’t sure honestly if we would get out of the hole we were in,” Houston said. “I had confidence that we had the ability to do that but we just wasn’t playing with a certain type of urgency.”

Alexis Bronner, a sophomore from Villisca, tallied eight points in the game, and showcased her increased confidence in her offensive abilities.

“You know what your players are capable of dong. Sometimes within themselves, they hold themselves back,” Houston said of Bronner.

“I think that (Bronner’s performance) really got our team going even more so than the spark Eriayana had,” Houston said, referring to how Bronner’s play charged up the Spartans.

Five of those points came with Southwestern trailing in the second half.

“I think in the first half we were settling to shoot outside a little bit more and they were pushing up on our shooters and they couldn’t really make any shots,” Bronner said. “So we decided to focus in on trying to get the ball inside more and we didn’t really finish inside more but once we got inside we could kick it out and get more open shots and looks that way.”

Sophomores Julanie and Maleika Carter, Demir Alford, Chelsi Sams, Alexis Bronner and Andrea McClary were all recognized in a ceremony with the boys between Saturday’s games.

Bronner does not want to contemplate the end of her career just yet, but it was a surreal experience for her to realize she almost certainly played her last home game.

“I’m going to miss my teammates hyping me up,” Bronner said. “I’ve probably played some of my best games at home and when I start doing good my teammates let me know I’m doing good and that’s one of the best feelings.”

The Spartans moved to 4-0 in Houston’s tenure on Sophomore Day.

“The five sophomores started tonight and before the game we said, ‘You know what? This is our court. This could be our last home game. Let’s go out and make it worth it and I think we did that,” Bronner said.

Sitting at fifth currently in the ICCAC standings and is unable to overtake Southeastern (7-5 in ICCAC play) in fourth place so Southwestern is likely set to play on the road to start postseason play.

UP NEXT — Southwestern (16-12, 5-7) will play at Iowa Central (10-17, 3-9) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

IL — Totals — 20 19-28 67. Scoring — Marissa Ruiz 16, Lauryn Smith 9, Gabi Garcia 9, Brookelyn Hoeppner 8, Mia Wassink 7, Lemia Ntor-Ue 6, Shai-anye Wesley 4, Jackie Petrich 3, Trsitan Dunivant 3, Bailey Trickel 2. FG Shooting — 20-55 (36.4 percent). 3-pt. goals — 8 (Ruiz 4, Garcia 3).

SWCC — Totals — 24 14-21 72 Scoring — Eriayana Frazier 7 4-5 18, Julanie Carter 5 3-6 17, Fallyn Beemer 4 3-4 14, Alexis Bronner 3 1-2 8, Chelsi Sams 1 2-2 5, Yaasmyn Spivey 2 0-0 5, Maleika Carter 1 1-1 3, Demir Alford 1 0-1 2. FG Shooting — 24-58 (41.4 percent) 3-pt. goals — 10 (J. Carter 4, Beemer 3, Frazier 1, Sams 1, Spivey 1). Rebound — 27 (Beemer 5, Sams 5, Keaundra Washington 4, Alford 4, J. Carter 4). Assists — 14 (Spivey 4, Frazier 4). Steals — 11 (Frazier 3, Sams 2, M. Carter 2) Fouls — 20. Fouled out — None.

IL (67) 13 26 13 15

SWCC (72) 9 16 17 30