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Waseca hangs on for 60-53 win

By Staff | Jan 10, 2009

Too little, too late.

Trailing Waseca by 23 points with just over eight minutes remaining in the game, the Buc girls mounted a furious comeback.

Ashley Olson drilled a 3-pointer with 1:05 to go and the Bucs were within five points of the Bluejays.

The Buc defense came up big as they forced a 5-second violation on the inbounds pass and the Bucs took over on offense with 59.2 seconds remaining.

A 3-point attempt by BEA did everything but go in the basket and the only points that would be scored the rest of the game came from two Bluejay free throws. When it was over the Bucs had lost 60-53 in a game played at Blue Earth last Tuesday evening.

“I was happy with the way we played the first 10 minutes and the last eight minutes. We need to do that for the whole game,” commented Coach Al Cue. “We didn’t get back on defense after a steal or rebound. They beat us down the court too many times.”

Waseca jumped out to an early lead before Kate Hassing benefited from Hayley Pirsig assists on two consecutive trips down the floor to make it 8-4 in favor of the ‘Jays.

The visitors would maintain the lead with the Bucs pulling to within one at 18-17 when Jackie Klinkner nailed a 15-footer from the right wing with just under eight minutes to go in the first half.

Led by Allyson Ruedy and Allison Steich, the Bluejays closed the half outscoring the Bucs 19-5 to take a 37-22 half time lead. The Waseca pair accounted for 13 of the 19 points.Things continued at the beginning of the second half just as they had ended in the first half. The Bucs fell further behind as Waseca beat them in transition to tally a number of easy baskets – until the Bluejays had taken a 56-23 lead.

Then the rally began. A 3-pointer by Morgan Dickman and a change in the line-up seemed to ignite the Bucs. They went on an 11-2 run to close the gap to 14 points at 58-44.

The Bucs didn’t let up and when Pirsig scored off of her own miss, BEA was suddenly within eight points with 1:37 to go, trailing 58-50.

Olson’s 3-pointer accounted for the Bucs last three points. The Bucs fell to 1-2 in the conference with the loss.

Leading scorers for the Bucs were Kate Hassing with 15, Hayley Pirsig with 13 and Ashley Olson who connected on three 3-point shots for nine points.