Millard's heroics lift Jacobs
Jacobs' guard Nicole Millard proved it is quality and not quantity of minutes played.
Known as a defensive stopper, Millard played less than 2 minutes during the Golden Eagles' Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls basketball matchup at Dundee-Crown Wednesday.
The senior made a game-clinching steal in the closing seconds to boost Jacobs to a 48-46 win over the Chargers (6-13, 1-2). The victory marks the third in the last 5 games for Jacobs (3-13, 2-4), which opened its season with 8 straight losses.
"I saw it coming," said Millard, who followed up the steal by splitting a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left in the game. "It's my job to defend. It doesn't matter how many minutes I get, when I do stuff like this."
Millard's steal came after Jacobs' Lauren Grady had missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Chargers' forward Diamond Williams grabbed the rebound. But Millard was able to stop the ball before it advanced into shooting-range for the Chargers and was then immediately fouled.
"Nicole understands what her role is," Golden Eagles coach Keith Chuipek said. "She's the best defender ball on ball person. She kind of stepped up. She kind of saved everyone for not rebounding with that interception."
Williams helped Dundee-Crown cut the Chargers' deficit to 47-46 when she found Dana Ewert for on outside shot with 18 seconds remaining. Trailing 47-44, Ewert (9 points) was about 3 feet inside the 3-point line on her shot.
Jacobs had extended its 45-44 lead when Melanie Schwerdtmann drove the lane and connected on a layup with 45 seconds left. Schwerdtmann, who led all players with 13 points, finished with 4 inside points in the final quarter. Jessica Tennant added 4 of her 10 points in the final period including breaking a 43-all tie with a drive and layup with 1:17 left to play.
Grady gave Jacobs the lead back at 43-42 after the Chargers went up 42-41 off an old-fashioned 3-point play from Alexis Holm. Holm's basket was set up off an offensive rebound. The Chargers grabbed 8 offensive boards in the second half and finished with 9 second-chance points in the second half.
Williams converted a bucket to cut Jacobs' lead to 37-34 at the end of the third quarter on a play in which Dundee-Crown was given 3 extra shots from offensive rebounds.
The Chargers held a 30-20 edge on the glass and Williams finished with 11 rebounds (6 offensive) Ali Sanders led D-C with 12 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter and Haley Hofman added 5 assists for Jacobs.