The Class 2A No. 2 University girls ran their record to 18-0 with a hard-fought 66-54 victory over Yorktown Thursday night at The U Center.
The Trailblazers battled foul trouble throughout the game, but used a 16-0 run over a four-minute stretch of the second and third quarters to wrest control of the game.
Senior Maddi Sears had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead University. Kelsey DuBois and Lindsey Syrek helped the ‘Blazers control the paint despite dealing with foul trouble. DuBois had 14 points and 10 rebounds, playing the fourth quarter with four fouls. Syrek had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots after picking up a pair of early fouls.
The ‘Blazers jumped to an early 8-2 lead behind a pair of baskets from DuBois and field goals from Sierra Hinds and Syrek. The Tigers battled back to tie the game at 9 and University led 12-11 at the quarter.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Yorktown holding a 24-23 lead with two minutes remaining. A three pointer by Sears and another DuBois basket gave University a 28-24 lead before two Yorktown baskets tied the contest at 28.
Sears scored five points in the last 25 seconds of the half to start the 16-point Trailblazer run and put University on top to stay. Her basket and free throw with less than a second to play gave University a 33-28 halftime lead.
The Trailblazers took total control in the third quarter. Syrek scored twice in the opening minute on passes from Jordan Patterson and Payton Seay. Sears had a lay-in off a steal and Seay scored for a 41-28 lead just two minutes in to the quarter. After DuBois picked up her fourth foul, Sears was fouled on a rebound basket and completed the three-point play. Yorktown scored with 4:35 remaining in the quarter, but Sears hit another 3-pointer for what was University’s largest lead of the night at 47-30.
Yorktown never got closer than 12 points the rest of the game. DuBois and Syrek each had five points in the fourth quarter to help close out the win.
Patterson had seven points and Seay and Hinds six each.
Yorktown was led by 18 from Carley Culberson and 12 from Toby Bell. The Tigers fell to 9-6 on the season.
University will take on another Class 3A opponent Saturday afternoon when it travels to Lebanon. The Class 3A Tigers are 8-1 at home this season and have won 14 of their last 15 at home.
UNIVERSITY 66, YORKTOWN 54
University FG FT TP PF
Kelsey DuBois 5-9 4-4 14 4
Sierra Hinds 2-3 2-5 6 4
Lindsey Syrek 5-11 1-2 11 2
Payton Seay 3-6 0-2 6 4
Maddi Sears 9-15 2-2 22 1
Elise Nachlis 0-0 0-1 0 1
Jordan Patterson 3-6 0-0 7 2
Lilly Fair 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 27-50 9-16 66 19
Score by Quarters
Yorktown 11 17 9 17 – 54
University 12 21 18 15 – 66
University 3-point shooting (3-8) Sears 2-5, Patterson 1-2, Syrek 0-1.
University rebounds (43) Sears 10, DuBois 10, Syrek 10, Patterson 6, Seay 4, Hinds 2, Fair 1.