Fulton, MO 1/14/2023- It was a busy day inside the Historic Gym on Saturday afternoon as Blue Jay fans packed the house to watch the Blue Jays women's basketball team take on rival Webster University. Westminster College also hosted a Unified Special Olympics Missouri basketball team from Tipton R-IV High School who would play an exhibition game at halftime. They would be greeted on the court by the Blue Jays men's basketball team and the Blue Jay cheerleaders. The Blue Jays and Cardinals fans in attendance would be greeted by a hotly contested game, which has been the custom in recent years when the Blue Jays and Gorloks lock up.
The game stayed within 10 points for most of the game but saw the Gorloks lead the entire game. They would pull away at the end and win the game 80-66. The Blue Jays lose their second straight conference game and fall to 2-2 in the SLIAC. They are 8-7 on the season. The Gorloks improve to 3-1 in the SLIAC and 13-2 on the season.
Webster started the game on fire going up 11-4 in the opening minutes. The Blue Jays would call timeout and calm the nerves after getting blitzed by the Gorlok full-court press that caused four turnovers. The Jays would battle back and cut the lead to one point after a Natalie Archambault (Eureka, MO/Eureka) layup made it 16-15. The Gorloks answered back going on a 10-2 run to end the first quarter leading 26-17.
The two teams would trade baskets early in the second quarter with Webster keeping their lead in the ten-point range. The Gorloks would then begin to pull away after scoring seven unanswered points to make it 43-27. Trishelle Porter ( California, MO / California) entered the game at 3:26 and immediately made an impact draining a three to get some momentum going the Blue Jays' way. She would find Caragan Lockard (Eolia, MO / Clopton) for a layup on the next possession. Harley Englemeyer (St. Elizabeth, MO / St. Elizabeth) would score in the paint with thirty seconds left in the first half. The Blue Jays ended the second quarter on a 7-2 run and headed to the locker room trailing 47-36.
The Gorloks would get the ball to start the third quarter and make a three on their opening possession. Olivia Hixson (Neosho, MO / Neosho) would answer with a three of her own. Shelby Kurtz (Camdenton, MO/ Camdenton) got in the action making a three of her own and all of a sudden Westminster was down just eight points at 50-42 and forcing a Webster timeout. The Gorloks would score on three straight possessions after the timeout and get their lead up to fourteen. Porter would hit a three near the end of the quarter to make it 64-55 then the Gorloks would score a layup with time running out to the end of the third quarter up 66-55.
Maile Peck (Marshfield, MO/Marshfield) hit a jumper to start the fourth quarter and get the Blue Jays within nine. The Gorloks would immediately score a layup to get the back to eleven. Porter hit her third three of the day with 6:35 left to play. Kurtz would get a steal that ended with a layup by Lockard to make it 68-62. Webster would call a timeout. After the timeout, the Gorloks would end the game going on a 12-4 run and win the game 80-66
Hixson led the way offensively scoring 11 points and hitting three 3-pointers. Kurtz would have 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Porter had 9 points off the bench and went 3-4 from behind the three-point arc. Archambault would have 8 points and a team-high 9 rebounds.
The Blue Jays will be back in action on Wednesday, January 18th when they host Greenville University on the first day of the spring semester. That game is set to tip off at 5:30 P.M.
