Lady Jays win NJCAA Division III national championship

The Minnesota West women’s basketball team captured its first ever NJCAA Division III championship Saturday night, defeating Rochester CTC 76-60 at the Rochester Regional Sports Center. After being defeated by Rochester in last season’s championship game, Lady Jays (26-7) got their revenge in this year’s title game rematch. They grabbed an early lead before Rochester began to mount a comeback. But the Lady Jays had the answers in the end and a big fourth quarter led to their 16-point win. Minnesota West stormed in front early and took a 21-15 lead into the second quarter. The Lady Jays continued to lead throughout the second quarter before a half court buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Audrey Drapeau (5'5''-G) gave them a 42-32 lead at halftime. The third quarter saw Rochester begin to force a comeback, eventually taking a 50-49 lead with less than a minute to go in the third. The Jays grabbed the lead back at 52-50 by the end of the quarter. In a weird and bizarre fourth quarter, the Lady Jays stayed focused and stormed back in front to regain a double-digit lead midway through the quarter to seal the deal. Sophomore Olivia Hayenga (5'9''-G) was named tournament MVP and she, along with teammates Audrey Drapeau and Hattie DeVries (5'10''-F) were named to the all-tournament team. Hayenga scored 22 points and had eight rebounds along with two blocks. Drapeau nearly had a triple double with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. DeVries led the Jays in scoring with 23 points, despite fouling out late in the game. The Lady Jays shot 42.1% from the field, connected on eight 3-pointers and had 17 total assists. Jada James (5'9''-F) led all scorers with 24 points for Rochester and she also fouled out of the game. Macays Copeland added 16 points for the Yellowjackets and Kara Goetzinger had 15. The team shot 33.8% from the field and made only 1-of-21 of its 3-point attempts.
Courtesy of: dglobe.com