Nervous?
Yeah.
Nicole
Nold stepped to the free throw line with 7.7 seconds
left in the game with Jamestown College trailing by one.
“Yeah,
it was scary,” Nold said. “I’ve struggled from there
every game. They just went down tonight.”
The senior post from
Jamestown sank two clutch free throws to help the
Jimmies wrap up their regular season with a 65-63
victory over Dakota Athletic Conference co-champion
Dakota State on Thursday night at the Civic Center.
“Those
were two pressure free throws right there, in that
situation,” said Jimmies coach Mark Wiest. “She’s
stepped up there so many times in her career. I know
she’s struggled at times at the line, but I thought she
stepped up there confidently.
We were talking during the timeout about after
she makes these. There was no Plan B or Plan C at that
point. It was Plan A only.”
For
Nold the the Jimmies’ four other seniors, it was a great
finish to a Senior Night victory over the No. 18-ranked
team in the nation. The
Jimmies’ veterans each played a big role in the win.
Nold
scored 10 points and hit the game-winning free throw.
Lindsey Ness added eight points and played solid defense
in the lane. Jenn Maus directed the offense all night,
dishing out seven assists and she came up with a clutch
defensive rebound that set up Nold’s clutch free throws.
Megan Clark drilled three three-pointers to help spark
the team in early in the second half and scored 13
points. And Brietta Bowerman hit for 27 points, led the
team with six rebounds and helped spark a late 10-2 run
that erased a seven-point Lady T advantage.
“We’ve
always had someone step up at crucial times in big
games,” Wiest said. “Tonight our seniors really stepped
up.”
After
Nold hit the two free throws to put the Jimmies on top,
Jamestown College came up with a big defensive stop.
Bowerman picked off a
Dakota State pass and was fouled with 0.03 seconds left.
She hit one of two free throws to finish off the win.
“Our
defense on the last play was great,” Wiest said.
Angela
Carr led the Lady T’s (19-9, 10-5 DAC) with 14 points
and Van Loy added a double-double
with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“Definitely, this will give us some confidence,” Nold
said. “This shows us what kind of team we can be if we
come out and execute and play defense the way we did
tonight.” 
