Hampshire hangs on against Sycamore

If the Hampshire girls basketball shot free throws even decently Saturday afternoon, the two Jen Dumoulin had with 2 seconds remaining wouldn’t have been necessary.

The Whip-Purs were 9-of-23 from the foul line when Dumoulin stepped to the line in a tie game. The senior hit both free throws to lift Hampshire to a 41-39 nonconference home victory over Sycamore.

“I definitely was (nervous),” said Dumoulin, who was 2-for-5 from the line before the game-winners. “I just did a quick sign of the cross.”

The Whip-Purs (6-10) were only 1-of-5 from the line in the final 3½ minutes before Dumoulin’s final two shots, which allowed the Spartans to stay close. Hampshire led by 1, 37-36, after Sycamore’s Bailey Gilbert hit 1-of-2 foul shots. Hampshire brought the ball downcourt in a hurry and Dumoulin’s layup with 41 seconds gave the Whip-Purs a 39-36 lead.

Gilbert, who scored a game-high 21 points, hit her fifth 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to tie the game at 39-39.

Dumoulin missed a jump shot, but grabbed her own offensive rebound and was fouled with 2 seconds remaining.

“We practice free-throw shooting to death,” Hampshire coach Ed Haugens said. “I just wish as a team that we would have shot better from the free-throw line.”

The offensive rebound by Dumoulin was her seventh of the game as Hampshire, which won its fourth straight, grabbed 20 offensive boards. Emma Benoit also had 7 offensive rebounds. The freshman finished with 15 points and had 11 rebounds. The Whip-Purs outrebounded the Spartans 39-31.

“We take pride in our rebounding,” said Dumoulin, who added 8 points. “We talked about that before the game. The girls did a great job.”