Sunday, December 21, 2008

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - It was another team effort for the Dolphins in the state of Texas as the JU women's basketball team defeated IUPUI, 59-56, in the Championship Game of the South Padre Island Shootout on Saturday evening at the Convention Centre.

JU (5-5) found a way to hold on in its second consecutive game by scoring 22 points off of 24 Jaguar turnovers while tallying 12 second chance points, 12 steals and 15 fast-break points.

IUPUI (6-5) won the rebounding battle (36-32) but connected on only 2-of-12 shots from beyond the arc and committed costly mistakes at the end of the contest.

With JU leading by nine points (53-44) with 4:33 remaining, IUPUI used a 9-0 (which included a 3- pointer and a four-point play in back-to-back possessions) to even the contest with 3:15 remaining. The Dolphins answered with a 4-1 run, after a pair of free throws by senior guards DaVina Hamilton and Regina Omoite, to take a 57-53 lead with 2:13 left.

The Jaguars cut the margin to 57-56 with a layup by Jernisha Cann at the two minute mark but the Dolphins forced a miss on their next possession. After a miss by JU, IUPUI broke out and had Brittany Ransom open to the lane off of a long pass. As she caught the ball, she shuffled her feet to give possession back to the Dolphins with 28 seconds remaining. The Jaguars were forced to foul and Hamilton hit two free throws with four seconds left to put JU up 59-56. Junior forward Desarae Johnson would intercept the desperation throw-in to ice the game.