Loper Women Stun #25 Gorillas, 78-67

Point guard Jillian Aschoff reached 1,000-careeer points, posted her third double double of the year and hit a 30-footer to end the third quarter to help Nebraska Kearney upset 25th-ranked Pittsburg State, 72-62, Thursday night in Kansas.
UNK (14-14, 7-10) wins for the third time in its last four games to keep its MIAA Tournament hopes alive. Meanwhile, the Gorillas (18-7, 11-5) suffer a second straight home loss and are 4-4 in their last eight games.
A fifth-year player and already a UNK graduate, Aschoff (Lincoln Pius) became the 30th Loper to reach four figures in points thanks to a driving layup with two minutes left in the first half. That was her seventh and eighth points of the night and helped UNK overcome an early 20-11 deficit. The Lopers closed the first quarter strongly and had 22-point second quarter to lead by two at the half.
“I thought we battled our absolute tails off. That’s become a staple of who we are especially this semester,” said UNK head coach Drew Johnson. “It’s been fun to watch but it always doesn’t work out in your favor. We lost by three in the last game, but we battled hard. I thought we did a great job defensively here; they shot 45 percent, but we limited the easy ones and they hit some tough, tough shots.”
The Blue & Gold wave continued early in the third as junior Brinly Christensen (Lincoln SW) hit a three and junior post Tara Biocanin (Serbia) followed with back-to-back paint buckets. That made a seven-point Loper lead, 44-37, but as expected, the Gorillas had a counter. They went on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes thanks to some work in the lane. However, UNK regained the lead after two Myleigh Weers (Diller) free throws and then Aschoff grabbed a defensive board, raced up the court and threw in about a 30-footer to close the quarter. That made it 51-47 and UNK didn’t trail again.
The final 10 minutes saw the Lopers open a 60-51 cushion after a Biocanin layup. Pitt tallied 15 points in the quarter but was also scoreless from the eight to three-minute mark. They also didn’t commit a single foul until the end of the game, making it tough to mount a comeback.
Aschoff ended up with 21 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. In addition to her double double work, she has two triple doubles as well. Next, Biocanin had 16 on 7 of 9 shooting, Weers went for 15 on six made shots with junior forward Jordan Sears (McPherson, Kan.) having seven of her 14 points in the second quarter. Finally, UNK made exactly half its shots (26 of 52), both teams grabbed 29 rebounds, and the Lopers made 14 of 16 freebies.
“Jill is just the consummate competitor for us. When she gets locked in and is fighting and fighting, it feels like we rally behind that effort,” said Johnson. “Jill is an amazing player and it was a special night for her.”
Junior guard Ja’Miya Brown (21 points, five rebounds) and freshman guard Marin Adams (13 points) paced Pitt.
UNK is at Missouri Southern on Saturday. The Lions (18-7, 12-4) upset No. 6 Fort Hays State tonight, 78-67.