JACKSON, Tenn. – With an undefeated record on the line, and against the highest ranked team they've faced in 2016-17, (18) Lady Argo basketball fought for a big win, defeating (10) Bethel University (Tenn.) 55-51. The win came on Day 2 of the 2016 Jackson Rotary Classic, a non-conference tournament featuring 13 ranked teams.
 
Not only did UGF beat its first Top-10 opponent of the season, but it proved it can win in a shootout or a defensive struggle. UGF beat (21) Talladega (Ala.) in an offensive oriented 81-66 game the previous day.
 
"We're very versatile, which you have to be in order to win at a national tournament type level," UGF Head Coach Bill Himmelberg said. "You're going to face teams that want to score and you're going to face teams that are going to grind it out, and our girls are able to play both ways."
 
Bethel and Great Falls entered the day as two of the best defensive teams in the country. The Wildcats rank 12th in the NAIA in scoring defense (54 ppg), while UGF ranks 9th (53.4 ppg). The first quarter reflected those rankings as both teams' shooting percentages hovered in the 20s.
 
The two teams combined for just 20 points in the first 10 minutes of play, but two buckets from junior guard Molly Herron and the period's only 3-pointer from Lady Argo Kallee Wilson gave UGF the slight edge.
 
Two threes from Bethel's Shamon Pearson to start the 2nd quarter gave the Wildcats the lead for a total of about a minute, but UGF forced three turnovers and scored twice in the post to retake the lead. Centers Whitney George and Kalani Ulufale combined for 8 of the team's 14 points in the quarter, using a height advantage in the post.
 
Pearson again started a quarter by retaking the lead for the Wildcats in the third, but that was again for a limited time as Herron hit a big three at the 6:15 mark to tie the game at 30. That was soon followed by another three from UGF senior Nneka Nnadi that gave Great Falls a lead it would never again relinquish.
 
UGF's lead grew to as much as 11 points, hitting the mark with just over three minutes remaining, but that didn't stop the Wildcats from mounting a comeback effort that whittled the lead from 8 to 3 in about 40 seconds. A floater in the lane from senior point guard Darah Huertas-Vining, and one made free throw each from her and Herron were just enough to keep the lead in the final moments.
 
In a battle of defensive teams, the Lady Argo's defense was dominant. UGF finished the game with 6 steals, and 5 blocks and held the Wildcats to a shooting percentage of 29 percent. Pearson was Bethel's only consistent source of points, scoring 19 of the team's 51.
 
"That was a great team. They run a lot of stuff that is very hard to defend and I thought our girls executed our game plan really well defensively," Himmelberg said. "I'm just proud of the girls."
 
Only two Lady Argos managed to score in double-digits, but seven UGF players scored five or more. Huertas-Vining was the leading scoring for UGF with 11 points, while adding 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but the top performance came from Stephanie McDonagh.
 
The junior guard lived up to the responsibilities of being the team's leading scorer this season with 10 points, but did much more than that, earning her second double-double of the year with a team leading 10 rebounds. She also led the team with 4 steals and added 3 assists.
 
Senior center Whitney George played one of her most complete games of the year. She scored 8 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, but her biggest impact came on the defensive end. The second leading blocker in the NAIA added five more to her season total and altered more shots on top of that.
 
UGF continues to improve on its program best start, with the team's record now at 9-0. That will be put to the test, with the Lady Argos traveling to (7) Lewis-Clark State College on Dec. 1 for the start of Frontier Conference play.