Hunter, J. Field score 13 each as Lady Zs handle Northwestern

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Jadyn Field Aubrey WIlson

The Rochester girls basketball team won against visiting Northwestern at the RHS gym Thursday.

Getting the players or coaches to feel good about the win is another matter.

Brailyn Hunter and Jadyn Field scored 13 points apiece, and the Lady Zs held Northwestern scoreless for over a 10-minute span in the second half in a 46-19 win.

“It was an ugly game,” Rochester coach Joel Burrus said. “We’re not real happy in there right now. The girls aren’t real happy. We won the game. Like we talked about in the pregame, it’s nice to learn when you win, but we weren’t real satisfied with the way we played.”

Northwestern cut the Lady Zs’ lead to 20-11 on a Maci Rody basket on the first possession of the second half, but they did not score again until the 5:47 mark of the fourth quarter.

Rochester went on a 17-0 run. The run included three baskets from Aubrey Wilson – two on steals and breakaway layups – and a 3-pointer from Hunter with three seconds left in the third quarter.

Rochester forced 29 turnovers while committing only six themselves. But they also made just 6 of 15 free throws.

“We’ve got some folks that owe me 100 tomorrow,” Burrus said. “Multiple parties. We can’t have starters especially going to the line and clinking them.”

This marked the first time since January 2020 that Rochester has held back-to-back opponents under 20 points. Rochester was coming off a 55-19 win over Wabash Saturday.

Rochester is 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the Three Rivers Conference.

Jadyn Field echoed Burrus’ sentiments about the performance.

“Honestly, I feel like it could have been a lot better,” Field said of the defense. “But for this game, I mean, it was OK. Like Burrus said, it should have been better for sure.”

Rody led the Lady Tigers with seven points. Northwestern, who won a sectional as recently as 2022 and a state championship as recently as 2019, fell to 0-9, 0-3 TRC. They have lost by an average margin of 27 points per game.

Rochester took the lead for good at 8-6 on a right baseline post turnaround from Field with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

They then scored the first six points of the second quarter on a Lyla Bowers 3-pointer, an Ali Field putback, and a Jadyn Field free throw.

Hannah Eller cut the lead to 14-9 with a 3-pointer, but Aubrey Wilson found Jadyn Field for a power layup and a 3-point play, and Jadyn Field then kicked out to Hunter for a 3-pointer from the right corner as the lead reached double digits at halftime at 20-9.

Rochester’s Field sisters were giving up considerable height to Rody, a senior post player, in the paint. One of her baskets in the third quarter run came on a post turnaround, and she also found Ali Field for a layup on a wraparound pass

“I try to tell my sister and myself that what we need to do is we need to shot-fake, and we need to get better on our post moves by shot-faking,” Jadyn Field said.

Still, there was a feeling of dissatisfaction afterwards. Rochester hosts Winamac (9-2) Tuesday, which might require a better performance.

“I like that they aren’t satisfied,” Burrus said. “I think that that tells me that they want more. We’re in the locker room in there, and nobody was very happy after the game. I’ve had teams that would have been like, ‘This is great.’ Well, not really.”

Rochester 46, Northwestern 19

NORTHWESTERN (19) (0-9, 0-3)

Jocelynne White 1 0-0 2, Alaina Dubbels 0 0-0 0, Ava Schultz 2 0-0 4, Tessa Davenport 0 0-2 0, Maci Rody 3 1-1 7, Kruiz Giles 1 0-0 3, Brylee Abbott 0 0-0 0, Hannah Eller 1 0-0 3, Erabella Winrotte 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 8 1-3 19

ROCHESTER (46) (6-5, 2-3)

Aubrey Wilson 3 0-0 6, Brailyn Hunter 4 2-5 13, Adalyn Gonzalez 1 0-3 2, Jadyn Field 5 3-5 13, Ali Field 2 0-0 4, Lyla Bowers 2 0-0 5, Hope Baugh 1 0-0 2, Kyleigh Little 0 1-2 1, Kyla Conley 0 0-0 0, Jayla Miller 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 18 6-15 46

Three-point field goals:

Northwestern 2 (Eller, Giles),

Rochester 4 (Hunter 3, Bowers)

Total fouls: Northwestern 11, Rochester 10

Turnovers: Northwestern 29, Rochester 6

Score by quarters

Northwestern 6 3 2 8 – 19

Rochester 8 12 11 15 – 46