Hampshire wins 37th straight in BN-East
There wasn’t a whole lot that Hampshire did wrong against North Boone on Saturday.
The Whips jumped out to 28-9 by the end of the first quarter and forced North Boone into 17 first-half turnovers. Hampshire had all 5 starters score in the first quarter with even ball distribution.
But the most impressive stat of the night was Hampshire’s overall team defense, which limited North Boone (8-12, 3-5) to just 10 shot attempts in the first half. The lack of shots allowed Hampshire to cruise to a 75-29 Big Northern Conference East victory, the Whips’ 37th straight win in the league.
“Our defense really stepped up tonight,” Hampshire guard Jessie Van Dorin said. “We played really well tonight. We really played as a team.”
The team concept worked perfectly for the Whips (22-2, 8-0).
Van Dorin had 18 points off six 3-pointers to lead all players, Karla Vietinghoff tallied 17 points, Alex Dumoulin added 12 and Michelle Dumoulin chipped in 8.
Grace Jakubowski scored 5 points, but finished with 8 assists and 5 steals, while Jennifer Dumoulin scored 8 points off the bench.
“We talk about equal opportunity and taking shots from where we are shooting well,” Hampshire coach Ed Haugens said. “It’s not like we’re setting up any one player to score. The girls are seeing each other better. They’re not just looking for the strong side players, they’re looking for the weak side.”
Vietinghoff was a recipient of the weakside ball movement. The senior forward opened the game up going 3 of 3 in the first quarter, including draining a pair of 3-pointers coming off a weakside screen.
“My teammates were helping me out,” said Vietinghoff, who also added 5 steals and 2 assists in the win. “We’re looking for each other more.”
Hampshire finished with 19 assists on its 30 shots, with 7 players recording at least 1 assist. Hampshire’s patience showed as it shot 61.1 percent (11 of 18) from the floor in the first quarter. Michelle Dumoulin (3 steals, 2 assists) connected on all 3 of her shot attempts in the first period.
Alex Dumoulin scored 8 points in the second quarter as Hampshire outscored North Boone 20-6 in the period. The Vikings did not get a shot attempt off until there was 3 minutes, 7 seconds left in the quarter. Hampshire was leading 41-11 before North Boone connected on its first basket of the second quarter to cut the lead to 41-13 with 2:30 left in the first half.
Ashlea Ekberg and Megan Johnson finished with 6 points apiece to lead North Boone, while Elisa Wood added 6 rebounds for Hampshire.