MADISON, Wis. - The Edgewood College women's basketball team jumped into a tie for eighth place in the NACC standings with a win over Dominican University on Saturday at the Edgedome. Senior guard Rachel Pope joined the 1,000 point club after sinking a pair of free throws late in the third quarter during the 61-53 victory over the Stars.
Edgewood College was down by five at one point in a back-and-forth first quarter, but a dominating performance in the second period that trickled into the third had the Eagles up by 14 before the final period began. Dominican outscored the Eagles 10-4 in the paint in the fourth and put together enough of a threat to pull within six on two occasions in the final three minutes of play.
Up six with 2:55 left, Pope stole the ball from Claudia DeNigris' hands for a turnover and Sierra Jiran knocked down her only three-pointer of the night on the ensuing possession. After a Dominican jumper a couple possessions later and a free throw from Jasmyn Hardin the Stars had crept back to within six again with just 1:04 left.
The Eagles then went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe from there on out to lock down the team's third victory in the last four games. The Eagles racked up 21 points off turnovers and had 15 assists, which is just one shy of their season high.
Pope became just the 10th Eagle in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She reached the mark in just the 93rd game of her career. She had 998 heading into a pair of free throws at the 2:10 mark of the third period with her team up 10. She calmly knocked them both down and received a standing ovation from the Edgedome crowd as she accepted a commemorative ball from coach Casey Thousand.
Pope needed 16 points to reach the milestone and finished tied with Jiran at 19 to lead the team. She reached that total on 7-of-11 shooting and buried a couple of three-pointers as well. Jiran notched her fourth double-double in the last six games with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Zoey Dougherty chipped in with eight points and tied for the team lead in assists with three.
Allie Tapanes led Dominican with 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting while Hardin (12) and Shamia Clark (10) were both in double figures in rebounds.
The Eagles get back into action at the Edgedome again on Wednesday, Jan. 27 for a matchup against Wisconsin Lutheran. Tip is set for 7 pm.
