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Womens basketball: Jackets win 7th straight
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FarkSPEARFISH — The Black Hills State women combined strong team defense with the inside-outside scoring of Snjezana Dojcinovic and Brittnay Fuhrman to beat Jamestown College 61-44 Friday night.
It marked the seventh straight win and 14th victory in 16 games for the Lady Jackets who are ranked eightth in NAIA Division II. Black Hills is now 2-0 in Dakota Athletic Conference action. Jamestown slips to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the DAC.
Dojcinovic, a 6-2 senior, hit 7-of-11 shots from close range for 14 points, and Fuhrman, a 5-6 guard, nailed 6-of-8 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 from 3-point land for 16 points. Dojcinovic also topped the team with seven rebounds.
"Dojcinovic was a tough match-up for them. 'Z' really came up big for us tonight," said BHSU coach Mark Nore.
"Brittnay got hot a couple of times in the game after Jamestown got close," said Nore.
Early in the second half, after Jamestown had closed the gap from 13 points to just eight, Fuhrman sank three quick shots from the outside, the last two from behind the arc, to put Black Hills back up by 16 points, 37-21.
"Whenever they got close, we responded," said Nore.
Giuli Varriano carried the scoring load for Jamestown, finishing with 18 points.
Varrianio connected on 8-of-15 shots while the rest of the Jimmies made just 11-of-46 shots for 24 percent.
"Varrianio is the leading scorer in the DAC with 22 points per game. She is a tough, gritty player who really finishes well," said Nore.
The Black Hills State coach used an effective match-up zone for most of the game and it made life miserable for the Jimmies.
"It's a good defense for us. Our girls play it well and it gave Jamestown a lot of trouble. We held them to 31 percent shooting for the game and they made only 1-of-16 shots from behind the arc until they got one right at the final buzzer," said Nore.
While the Black Hills State coach was happy with his team's defensive play, he was not pleased with the Jackets' 20 turnovers and Jamestown's strong rebounding on the offensive board.
"We got a little careless with the ball in the second half," said Nore.
"We also let Jamestown grab 15 offensive rebounds, but they have as physical and active a team under the boards as there is in the conference," he said.
Jackets led 27-18 with 4:31 to play in the opening half before the two teams turned the ball over on seven straight possessions. The only points scored during the rest of the half came on two free throws by BHSU's Alana Dykehouse.
"We weren't sharp on offense, but it was just our third game in the past 28 days," said Nore who added, "I don't think our girls felt a lot of pressure from being ranked No. 8, but it does put a target on our backs."
Jamestown struggled through a pair of five-minute scoring droughts in the opening half, and also went more than six minutes without scoring midway through the second period.
Black Hills held its biggest lead, 56-33, with 6:44 to go.
Former Lead-Deadwood standout Amanda Rantapaa scored four points for Jamestown.
Nore was honored in a pre-game ceremony for achieving the most career wins (87) of any BHSU women's basketball coach. He broke the record with a victory over Dakota Wesleyan Dec. 30. Nore is in his sixth season as the Lady Jackets’ head coach.
Black Hills State's Lacey Haughian, left, fights for a loose ball with Jamestown's Ali Edwards at the Donald E. Young Center on Friday night in Spearfish. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)
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