Spartans fade in home opener

Just when it looked like the Southwestern women were on their way to winning their home opener Tuesday night, Grand View JV started raining 3-pointers.

A barrage of seven triples in the third quarter turned the tide for the Vikings, who trailed 35-31 at halftime. For the game, Grand View JV made 12 3-pointers to two by the Spartans, which accounted for much of the final margin of 72-59.

Spartan head coach Bryan Austin felt it was a win that got away, after watching his team break out to leads of 4-0 and 15-7 in the opening minutes. At halftime freshman Brielle Baker had 10 points and sophomore center Simone Jordan had a team-high 12 as the Spartans staked a four-point lead.

Grand View came out with a 23-11 third quarter to overtake the Spartans with a 54-46 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“They made shots and we turned the ball over, that’s the story,” Austin said. “Early we were running our system how we are supposed to run it.”

That was not his assessment of the momentum swing in the third quarter.

“We got out of what we do defensively, not helping correct,” Austin said. “They got a lot of open looks and you can’t give people open looks at this level. We weren’t shooting layups like we’re supposed to, playing through contact.”

On the perimeter there were many positive moments, with the speed of this Southwestern team evident in several fast breaks. Baker made several hustle plays, described by Austin as “the engine that keeps on ticking.” Returning point guard Kayela Willis directed some swift ball movement and finished with four points.

“Kayela did a phenomenal job of just being solid out there,” Austin said. “She’s shown much growth from last year.”

Jordan, at 5-10, is handling much of the inside duty until 6-foot-2 Meghan Allen returns from a foot injury. She scrapped her way to 16 points, but was limited to four in the second half.

Austin knows his team isn’t playing at the level it will later in the season. He sees these early games as learning experiences before conference play, including this weekend’s trip to Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa for two games against unfamiliar opponents.

“We’re going somewhere different to get a different style of play,” Austin said. “Hopefully, we can learn what we need to do, and not do. Some of it is just listening to the simple stuff. For example, tonight it looked like we had never seen a press before. There’s plenty to work on. Tomorrow we’ll get back to work.”

UP NEXT — Southwestern (1-2) plays host Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa at 5 p.m. Friday and Northern Oklahoma College-Enid at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Spartans return home next Tuesday to face Marshalltown Community College at 5:30 p.m.

Grand View JV 72, Southwestern 59

G V JV (72) — 17 14 23 18

SWCC (59) — 19 16 11 13

SOUTHWESTERN (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 26 5-5 59. Simone Jordan 7 2-2 16, Brielle Baker 5 2-2 13, Eden Billups-Campbell 4 1-1 10, Samantha Hagedorn 4 0-0 8, Sckiya Banister 3 0-0 6, Kayela Willis 2 0-0 4, Tamara Ellis 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 26-64 (40.6 percent). 3-point goals — 2-9 (Baker 1, Billups-Campbell 1). Rebounds — 37 (Baker 7, Willis 7, Jordan 5, Hagedorn 5, Banister 4, Waterhouse-Brennan 3). Assists — 10 (Willis 3, Baker 2, Billups-Campbell 2). Steals — 18 (Baker 5, Jordan 5, Billups-Campbell 4, Banister 2). Blocked shots — 5 (Jordan 4). Turnovers — 25. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.

GRAND VIEW JV (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 25 10 72. (FT attempts not available). Kelly Leerar 19, Bri Jensen 13, Maddie Ahlstrom 11, McKenna Monahan 10, Maya Johnson 6, Jenna Bruns 6, Sydney Shadravan 4, Emily Roberts 3. 3-point goals — 12. Team fouls — 8. Fouled out — None.