The fourth quarter was unkind to the Minnesota West Lady Jays for the second day in a row on Saturday.
Anoka-Ramsey outscored Minnesota West 30-7 over the final 10 minutes to win the NJCAA Division 3 third-place game over the Lady Jays, 64-45, in Rochester. Katrina Schutz had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in the defeat, which dropped Minnesota West to 18-11 to end the year.
The Lady Jays scored the first five points of the game Saturday, but the first quarter proved to be a low-scoring one and finished in a 9-9 tie. That trend did not change in the second quarter, and Anoka-Ramsey wound up taking a 19-17 into the halftime break. The Golden Rams, who made just 19% of their shots in the first half. got a huge boost from their offensive rebounding, as they grabbed 17 offensive boards to just two for Minnesota West.
Both offenses came to life in the third quarter, and it looked for a short time that the Lady Jays were getting on a winning roll. A Sadie Krahling 3-pointer gave Minnesota West a 22-21 edge, and Schutz followed with a 3 of her own to make it 25-21. The Golden Rams regained a 26-25 lead, but a 10-3 run sparked by five points from Schutz, a 3-pointer by Ava Parrish and a hoop from Krahling put the score at 35-29, Lady Jays.
Another Parrish 3-pointer put Minnesota West ahead 38-34 heading into the final quarter. There was little to cheer about from then on for Lady Jays fans as Anoka-Ramsey went on an 18-3 run and continued to pull away. The Golden Rams ended up winning their final two games this season after losing the first two.
Schutz, a Minnesota West freshman, was the lone representative of the squad named to the all-tournament team.
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