A monster first half by sophomore Jade Cargill helped set up a 57-50 win for the JU women's basketball team over Belmont in A-Sun action on Wednesday night at the Veterans Memorial Arena.
Cargill scored 17 of her game-high 22 points in the first half as the Dolphins (4-10, 2-1 A-Sun) earned their fourth straight win at home. She also finished with 13 boards and five steals. Senior Crystal Bell had 12 points and five steals, while junior Tracie Sneed finished with 10 points and 10 boards.
"We played really well in the first half," JU head coach Jill Dunn said. "We struggled offensively in the second half, but we struck with the plan and it helped us beat a really good team."
The Dolphins did their damage again at the free throw line, hitting 16 of 18 for an 84.2 percentage. They also won the rebounding battle, 43-29, and turned 16 steals and 20 Bruins (3-12, 2-2) turnovers to 18 points.
With the scored tied a six-all in the first half, the Dolphins pushed ahead with a 18-4 run, capped on a fast-break layup from Bell, to take a 22-10 lead (10:23). Cargill scored three times during the run and later extended the JU advantage to 29-14 on a free throw. Senior Jessica George hit a jumper in the final minute to give the Dolphins a 33-20 lead at the half.
Katie Brooks scored 12 points to lead the Belmont offense, while Katie Carroll had 10 points. Alyssa Visbeen finished with 10 points for the Bruins.
Trailing by 10 with less than eight minutes remaining, the Bruins trimmed the deficit to 48-44 on three-pointers by Cacy Burtnett (5:53) and Carroll (4:36). The Dolphins went scoreless for the next two possessions until Bell nailed a three-pointer with 2:50 left. Haley Nelson had a layup on the next trip down and was fouled, but missed the shot for the three-point play. Bell recorded a layup on the following possession, while Peeples hit four free throws, her only points of the game, down the stretch to secure the win.
The Dolphins return to the road starting Saturday against Stetson in DeLand, Fla. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN3.com. Fans can follow the action through the links on JUDolphins.com.
.
