Cedar Rapids, IA, 11/13/21 – The Westminster women's basketball team blitzed their opponent Saturday afternoon right out of the gate as they led the Central College Dutch 25-13 after the first quarter of play in game two of the Coe College Tournament. The Dutch chipped away at the Blue Jay lead in in the middle quarters shrinking the Jays lead to just four entering the fourth quarter. The Blue Jays ran away with the fourth quarter 22-13 to win the game over the Dutch 70-57. The win over the Dutch from the highly regarded American Rivers Conference evened the Blue Jays record at 2-2 on the season.
The game saw the return of senior Abbie Reece (Cape Girardeau, Mo. / Cape Central) to the starting lineup. Reece returned from injury in the first game of the tournament where she came off the bench. The Blue Jays are looking forward to having her return to her sizable role with the team. The talented guard/forward logged 21 minutes hitting one of her four three-point attempts. The game also saw freshman Annette Ramirez (Sarcoxie, MO / Sarcoxie) get the first start of her career. The electric guard has been a force for the Blue Jays in the early season.
A Reese Arnold (Lonedell, Mo. / Washington) three pointer off of a Ramirez assist 15 seconds into the game was followed by a Ramirez steal and a Shelby Kurtz (Camdenton, MO / Camdenton) lay up to give the Jays a quick 5-0 lead. Later in the quarter the Jays led 13-11. Back to back three pointers by Chloe Akerson (Saint Louis, Mo. / Lutheran South) and Corrie Reece (Cape Girardeau, Mo. / Cape Central) followed by a two-point jumper by Akerson gave the Blue Jays their first double digit lead at 21-11. Madison Schaeffer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Fairfield) would give the Jays their biggest lead so far when her offensive rebound put back at the end of the quarter the Blue Jays a 25-13 lead.
The Blue Jays would see their lead shrink to five points on two different occasions in the second quarter but a last second Corrie Reece three pointer off of a nice Schaeffer assist after a Carrigan Lockard () offensive rebound that sent the Blue Jays to the locker room leading 38-30. The third quarter saw the Dutch storm back to take a 40-39 lead but it was Schaeffer to the rescue for the Jays. She would score on four out of five possessions along with a Corrie Reece free throw to reclaim the lead for the Blue Jays at 48-40.
The fourth quarter saw the Blue Jay lead grow to a game high 15 on a Miranda Nelson (Warrenton, Mo. / Warrenton) made layup that made the score 70-55 before a Dutch score that accounted for the 70-57 final score in favor of the Jays.
Schaeffer led the Blue Jays with 14 points. Arnold followed with 13 points and Kurtz joined the two in double figures with ten. Avylina Powell-Qualo (Republic, MO / Republic) led the Jays on the boards with ten rebounds. Schaeffer was close behind with nine. Ramirez led the Jays in assists with three. Akerson and Powel-Qualo each recorded three steals.
The Blue Jays will now return home to Historic Gym for three consecutive home games. The home opener for the Jays is scheduled for Saturday November 20th when they welcome the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves to Fulton. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. tip off.
