LADY INDIANS FINISH STRONG, TOP COR JESU

JACKSON -- In a competitive game blemished by turnovers, the Jackson Lady Indians executed when they needed to in a 52-43 victory over perennial basketball power Cor Jesu Saturday.

In the first possession of the fourth quarter, Cor Jesu -- whose only lead was 2-0 -- cut the deficit to 34-33 on a 3-pointer by Amanda Clifton.

Then Jackson (2-1) got its act together, going on an 8-0 run in a span of just 1 1/2 minutes.

"We were very inconsistent," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "But we're young. We did have parts of the game where we did look good."

Jackson's Andrea Koeper started that important sequence, when she put back an offensive rebound and was fouled on the play. Koeper, who scored a team-high 15 points, made the free throw to put the Lady Indians up 37-33.

After a couple of missed shots by the Crusaders, Koeper scored on a well-executed give-and-go play from Cherish Tillman in transition. Tillman ended up with 11 points.

On Jackson's next possession, Amanda Bollinger drilled a 3-pointer to put Jackson up 42-33 and Cor Jesu never challenged after that.

"We got it to within one point, then we didn't have good defense there for a couple of possessions," said Cor Jesu coach Gary Glasscock, whose team dropped to 1-3. "We didn't block out well there. They just showed more intensity and more passion than we did."

Until the fourth quarter -- when Jackson made six of its nine shots and turned the ball over just three times -- both teams were not exactly on top of their game.

In all, the Lady Indians turned the ball over 22 times and Cor Jesu posted 24 turnovers.

"It was an ugly game in that respect," said Glasscock. "We've been averaging 20 turnovers a game and you're not going to win a lot of games by doing that."

Many of Jackson's miscues in the first half were missed passes where the ball simply slipped through or bounced off the hands of one player after another.

Both teams had 13 turnovers at halftime, but Jackson held a 26-18 lead, thanks to making four of eight 3-pointers in the first half. During that same span, Cor Jesu made just one of six from behind the arc.

Freshman guard Jenna Leet sparked Jackson in the first half with eight points and two 3-pointers. She did not see much playing time in the second half, however.

The story for Cor Jesu was 6-foot-4 center Katie Neff. Neff scored 16 points, blocked eight shots and pulled down nine rebounds. She was the only player in double figures for the Crusaders.

Neff didn't get many scoring chances, though, as she was often surrounded by two, three and sometimes four Jackson players.

"That's how teams always play us," Glasscock said. "Our other kids have to do a better job of shooting the basketball."

With Neff blocking nearly everything put up in her direction, Jackson was forced to hit mid-range jumpers, which it did in the second half.

Still, Neff had a huge impact on Jackson's shooting percentage as the Lady Indians made just 17 of their 46 shots from the field (37 percent). Jackson was limited to 31 percent shooting over the first three quarters.

Cor Jesu shot 42 percent for the game.