ROCHESTER — The Austin Packers girls basketball team got its first win of the season on Friday night with 67-62 victory over the Rochester Century Panthers.
Nothing is ever easy and it took some clutch free throw shooting from Sophie Hebrink to secure the road win for the visiting Packers. Hebrink went 3-for-4 at the charity stripe in the final minute to seal the deal.
"It was a good win on the road and it's been a while since we've beaten Century," Austin coach Gary Peterson said. "We were down by 16 points in the first half and for once we had a nice run. The girls came back and tied the score at halftime."
Jenna Svoboda, sophomore center, had the best game of her high school career with 27 points and nine rebounds. Svoboda scored 19 of her game-high points total in the second half.
Babaye Oja added 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds in the Big Nine Conference win. Hebrink was also a factor on the boards with nine rebounds and chipped in eight points.
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"We got the ball inside and Jenna had a great game," coach Peterson said. "Babaye was a workhorse on the boards, she just hustles the whole game."
Century (2-2, 1-1 Big Nine) was led by Maggie Pumper with 24 points. Pumper had six three-pointers on the night, but it wasn't enough in the home loss.
"We kept it close in the second half and took the lead for good with about three minutes left," Peterson concluded. "The girls played with poise down the stretch and made some clutch free throws at the end."
Austin (1-3, 1-1 Big Nine) travels to Northfield tonight for a non-conference game.
AUSTIN (67)
Jenna Svoboda 27, Babaye Oja 14, Sophie Hebrink 8, Meredith Molhusen 7, Stephanie Justice 5, Nina Carney 4, Taylor Lady 2, Mary Kate Barinka 0, Danielle Tschann 0.
CENTURY (62)
Maggie Pumper 24, Kanani Asuncion 11, Mallory Cochran 8, Jessica Grev 8, Morgan Hartman 5, Bethany Schultz 4, Eden Krysmalski 2.
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Halftime— Austin 34, Century 34.
Three-pointers— AUS 7-19 (Svoboda 3, Oja 2, Hebrink 1, Justice 1). RC 7-17 (Pumper 6, Hartman 1).
Free throws— Austin 14-23, Century 17-21.
Rebounds— Austin 40 (Oja 11, Hebrink 9); Century 34.
Turnovers— Austin 17, Century 23.
Fouled out— RC, Schultz, Krysmalksi.
