Generals Push No. 8 Jefferson in Gritty Rematch at Regional Championship Site

Generals Push No. 8 Jefferson in Gritty Rematch at Regional Championship Site

The Herkimer Women's Basketball program returned to the site of last year's regional championship for a rematch with the #8 nationally ranked Jefferson Cannoneers on Thursday. 

Box Score

The Herkimer Women's Basketball program returned to the site of last year's regional championship for a rematch with the #8 nationally ranked Jefferson Cannoneers on Thursday.  In what proved to be an entertaining back and forth matchup between arguably Region 3's two most athletic teams, Herkimer would fall 82-66, but not without a tremendous fight.  

 
Jefferson had a clear game plan to make Herkimer's undermanned team have to get up and down the court as they pushed the pace of play.  In similar fashion to their matchup in November, Jefferson shot the ball well, attacking Herkimer's sticky zone defense, and with excellent ball movement.  In the first quarter they would shoot 50% from the floor, but Herkimer was not to be outdone and would trail 23-19 at the end of the quarter.
 
Herkimer shot well throughout the first half as well behind Freshman Ava Nicholson (Brooklyn) and Jordan Bellinger (Oneonta), Herkimer continued to battle.  Jefferson would extend its lead to 12 in the first half, but a big three-pointer by Freshman Amiya Carter (Newark, NJ), cut the deficit to seven as they entered the locker room.  
 
In the 3rd quarter, Herkimer came out with a new found motivation, playing a hard aggressively switching man to man defense to challenge Jefferson.  Herkimer grabbed all the momentum and took a one point lead halfway through the quarter.  Following a timeout, Jefferson was able to attack and create some foul trouble that was too much for Herkimer to overcome.
 
Carter led Herkimer with 19 pts and 7 rebounds as Bellinger added a career high 17 pts and 6 rebounds.