Mavs Win, Earn Home Court
Feb 25, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Senior JJ Smith tied her career-high with 29 points Saturday night, leading the Mavericks to a 94-81 North Central Conference win over Minnesota State, Mankato in front of 1,850 at Lee & Helene Sapp Fieldhouse. With the win, UNO finished fourth in the league and will host fifth-place South Dakota Wednesday night at 7 in the first round of the Wells Fargo Finals post-season tournament.
UNO, now with three straight wins, is 19-10 overall and 5-7 in the NCC. Minnesota State fell to 12-15 overall and 3-9 and will play its first-round game at St. Cloud State. Wednesday's winners will advance to the semifinal games Saturday at Grand Forks, N.D. The championship game, which carries automatic qualification into the NCAA II tournament, is Sunday.
UNO wasted little time in taking control of the contest, jumping out front with a 15-2 run, scoring 11 straight at one stretch that was capped by a three-pointer by Smith.
MSU, however, cut the margin to four, scoring eight straight at one stretch. UNO answered that with another spurt and led by as many as 17 before MSU scored the final nine points of the half to trail, 43-35.
After MSU's Arin Andrews scored the first field goal of the second half, UNO went to work and built its lead back up to double digits on a Toni Kinsey layup for a 50-39 advantage. MSU could not draw closer the rest of the way.
UNO, which shot just 40.7 percent the first half, heated up to hit 63 percent of its shots after the break and built its lead to as many as 25, 82-57, with 7:14 to play. MSU didn't quit, however, and went on a 10-0 run with Stacie Johnson scoring half of the points. Johnson, who scored 10 of her 13 points the second half, knocked the lead down to 88-76 with a layup with 2:23 left.
Heather Johnson led MSU with 19 points, Felicia Foster added 17 and Andrews had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Smith, who stands No. 10 in career scoring, tied her career-high by connecting on 11 of 15 shots from the field, including four of six from behind the arc. She also led UNO with 10 rebounds. Karen Thies added 16 points and Toni Kinsey 10.
The first-round game is the first post-season home game for UNO since 1987 when the Mavericks hosted St. Cloud State in an NCAA II regional contest.
UNO, now with three straight wins, is 19-10 overall and 5-7 in the NCC. Minnesota State fell to 12-15 overall and 3-9 and will play its first-round game at St. Cloud State. Wednesday's winners will advance to the semifinal games Saturday at Grand Forks, N.D. The championship game, which carries automatic qualification into the NCAA II tournament, is Sunday.
UNO wasted little time in taking control of the contest, jumping out front with a 15-2 run, scoring 11 straight at one stretch that was capped by a three-pointer by Smith.
MSU, however, cut the margin to four, scoring eight straight at one stretch. UNO answered that with another spurt and led by as many as 17 before MSU scored the final nine points of the half to trail, 43-35.
After MSU's Arin Andrews scored the first field goal of the second half, UNO went to work and built its lead back up to double digits on a Toni Kinsey layup for a 50-39 advantage. MSU could not draw closer the rest of the way.
UNO, which shot just 40.7 percent the first half, heated up to hit 63 percent of its shots after the break and built its lead to as many as 25, 82-57, with 7:14 to play. MSU didn't quit, however, and went on a 10-0 run with Stacie Johnson scoring half of the points. Johnson, who scored 10 of her 13 points the second half, knocked the lead down to 88-76 with a layup with 2:23 left.
Heather Johnson led MSU with 19 points, Felicia Foster added 17 and Andrews had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Smith, who stands No. 10 in career scoring, tied her career-high by connecting on 11 of 15 shots from the field, including four of six from behind the arc. She also led UNO with 10 rebounds. Karen Thies added 16 points and Toni Kinsey 10.
The first-round game is the first post-season home game for UNO since 1987 when the Mavericks hosted St. Cloud State in an NCAA II regional contest.
Players Mentioned
Tuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
