Schuneman leads Jimmies over DSU

Talk about it

JAMESTOWN — Injuries have been an early-season theme for the 11th-ranked Jamestown College women.

Of course, so has winning, and the two intertwined again Saturday at the Civic Center.

Coming off a 10-day break between games, the Jimmies wrapped up a 72-57 win in fairly comfortable fashion over Dickinson State, but again had injury question marks afterwards.

All-American point guard Hannah Steele rolled an ankle early in the second half and promising freshman post Jessica Buck tweaked a wrist.

“It was good to get out there and kick some of the rust off. ... But we seem to be having one of those years,” JC coach Greg Ulland said of the injuries. “You hope everything checks out OK. We just have to keep moving forward.”

Steele did return briefly to the game, but only briefly. She had 10 assists in 21 minutes, several going to her teammate since childhood Bridget Schuneman.

“I had a lot of good passes from my teammates. When I get the ball in there I have to finish,” she said. “I kind of felt like I haven’t been finishing as well as I need to. (Tonight) was better, though.”

Schuneman has battled ankle and back issues all season, but looked sharp against the Blue Hawks, going 8-for-10 en route to 20 points.

“Overall, I thought we played well as a team,” she said. “We hadn’t played in a while so it was fun to just play again, but it is good to get those breaks throughout the season. It keeps us fresh.”

The Jimmies (10-1) did not trail in the game. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. Ulland liked his team’s defensive effort.

“It’s fine and dandy to win games and have a good record, but defense is what is going to take us to that next level,” he said. “We can’t ever be satisfied at the defensive end of the floor. It has to be constant improvement.”

Janae Moore had a nice outing for the 3-7 Blue Hawks, pumping in 23 points in 32 minutes.

“They create match-up problems for you,” Ulland said. “We’ve played them twice now. They’ll win their share of games.”

Amber Ramlo added 11 points for the Jimmies, including a perfect 3-for-3 outing from deep. Eleven players scored in all, including a pair from junior Casey Geffre, who has rehabbed her way back into form and made her season debut after suffering a major knee injury during the track season.

“It was good to see us knock some shots down in the second half. We had good looks in the first half, they just weren’t going down,”

Ulland said. “We tell them, ‘Keep shooting.’ Eventually, we hope, they’ll go down.”

They did in the second half as the Jimmies connected on seven of their 15 3-point attempts.

“There’s always things we can do better. Coach will let us know about that,” Schuneman said. “We have high expectations for ourselves, so that’s good.”

The Blue Hawks continue its season hosting South Dakota Mines at 2 p.m. today.

DICKINSON STATE (RECORD): Lorna Sheperd 0-1 1-1 1, Dawne Degel 1-6 2-2 4, Yianna Nadeau 2-4 1-3 7, Mariah Duran 0-1 2-2 2, Ashley Jelly 0-1 2-2 2, Janae Moore 8-12 6-9 23, Jenna Cabello 2-4 1-2 5, Jess Bygate 3-9 4-4 10, Jalyn Klauzer 0-3 3-4 3. Totals: 16-41 22-29 57.

JAMESTOWN COLLEGE (RECORD): Hannah Steele 1-5 0-0 3, Carly Jensen 1-7 2-2 5, Kadie Savage 3-7 0-0 8, Maggie Seter 2-6 1-2 6, Chelsey Frydenlund 1-2 0-0 2, Casey Geffre 0-0 2-2 2, Jessica Buck 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Mathison 3-11 0-0 7, Kayla Roemmich 2-4 1-3 5, Amber Ramlo 4-5 0-2 11, Bridget Schuneman 8-10 4-6 20, Megan Pold 0-1 3-4 3. Totals: 25-58 13-21 72.

Halftime: JC 28-19. Total fouls: DSU 16, JC 21. 3-point goals: DSU 3-8 (Nadeau 2-4, Moore 1-2, Degel 0-1), JC 9-25 (Ramlo 3-3, Savage 2-3, Jensen 1-7, Steele 1-3, Seter 1-4, Mathison 1-5). Rebounds: DSU 32 (three with four), JC 35 (three with four). Assists: DSU 7 (Sheperd 3), JC 18 (Steele 10). Steals: DSU 5, JC 8. Blocks: DSU 1, JC 0. Turnovers: DSU 21, JC 15.

Tags: college basketball, dsu blue hawks, sports, basketball