Halli Bartelsmeyer scored 25 points and the Lady Tigers overcame a five-point deficit in the final three minutes to beat Oakville 55-50 at the Missouri Hall of Fame Shootout at Drury University Saturday. Republic scored seven straight points in a 44-second stretch to pull out the victory.
Republic led most of the night, thanks mostly to Bartelsmeyer’s big night. She scored 10 of Republic’s points in the first quarter to help the Lady Tigers lead 13-10 after one. She scored 16 of the team’s 23 points in the first half, and Republic led 23-19 at the midway point.
But Oakville began to settle down against Republic’s tenacious defense in the second half, and climbed back even. Oakville outscored Republic 16-12 in the third quarter to tie the game, and eventually took a five-point lead. Republic trailed 48-43 with 3:00 remaining when they turned the game around.
Jade Kirby hit one of two free throws, but Jazzy Kirby intercepted a pass to set up a three-pointer by Clara Fronabarger. Fronabarger’s shot cut the lead to one, 48-47.
Oakville tried a long pass to beat the Republic press, but Delaney Smith intercepted it and sprinted up the sideline. The Lady Tigers got the ball to Jade Kirby, and when she swished home a three-pointer, Republic led 50-48, capping a 7-0 run in just 44 seconds. Two Fronabarger free throws a minute later gave Republic a four-point lead and they controlled the game the rest of the way.
Republic outscored Oakville 12-2 over the final three minutes. The late heroics wouldn’t have been possible if not for the huge performance turned in by Bartelsmeyer.
“Halli played a tremendous game and honestly kept us in it to have a chance to win the game. She hit a lot of big shots,” said coach Kris Flood. “We had several good looks today but just was not hitting. Once we hit those two threes, it really gave us the momentum, and we hit enough free throws at the end to get the win. I really believe this win will help us as we now turn our focus to the rest of conference season.”
Republic returns to conference action Monday with an important road game at Branson. Republic Tiger Sports will livestream the game on the website and on our YouTube channel.
The Lady Tigers improve to 11-6.
Scoring
Halli Bartelsmeyer 25, Clara Fronabarger 12, Jade Kirby 6, Jazzy Kirby 7, Delaney Smith 2, Savana Powell-Goodman 1
Farr Better Player of the Game
Halli Bartelsmeyer played one of the best games of her career, scoring 25 points and keeping Republic in the game while the rest of the offense struggled. She is our Farr Better Player of the Game.
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