Bulldogs knock off Jackson in semifinal

Jackson coach Tyler Abernathy had his team as prepared as it could be for Notre Dame's intense full-court pressure.

"We watched film for an hour yesterday and an hour today," Abernathy said. "It's one of those things until you face it you don't really realize how quick they are."

The Indians (3-2) found out the hard way on Wednesday night in the second semifinal of the 18th annual Kelso Supply Holiday Classic at the Show Me Center.

Notre Dame forced 17 first-half turnovers en route to a 57-35 victory.

The Bulldogs advanced to face defending champion Saxony Lutheran tonight at 8:30 p.m. while Jackson squares off against Sikeston at 7 p.m. in the third-place game.

Notre Dame defeated the Crusaders 45-38 on Saturday.

"First, you got to understand they're really good," Abernathy said. "They're really good. They're very senior dominated. They've ran this 2-2-1 back to 2-3 forever so they understand how teams are going to attack it and so forth. Early on I thought it took us a little bit to realize how quick they were to get into gaps and get to passes, and it caused some turnovers."

The Bulldogs (5-0) forced nine first-quarter turnovers and routinely turned them into easy buckets to gain a 12-7 advantage after the opening eight minutes.

Notre Dame separated themselves in the second quarter.

Notre Dame’s Annie Siebert hits the ball away from Jackson’s Autumn Reid as Halle Lynch looks on during the second quarter of their semifinal game of the Kelso Supply Holiday Classic on Wednesday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

The Bulldogs forced another eight turnovers and senior guard Shelby Beussink took over offensively.

Beussink, a 5-foot-7 guard, scored 10 of her team's 18 points in the quarter.

"We executed really well," Beussink said. "Our shooting percentage was very on tonight, and we pushed the ball well down the floor."

Jackson's Autumn Reid hit a basket to make it a 14-9 game a minute into the second quarter, but Beussink went on a 6-0 run by herself to stretch the Bulldogs' lead to 20-9 and start the separation.

"She's definitely one where once she gets in a rhythm -- keep her on the floor," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said.

The Bulldogs eventually stretched their lead to a 30-16 advantage at half, forcing the Indians into just 1-of-6 shooting from inside the arc and 2-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc in the opening half.

"We talked about, you turn it over and everything's going faster, so you shoot the ball a little faster than you normally do," Abernathy said. "You're not as prepared on the catch to shoot the ball. I just thought we rushed, I thought we showed our age and I thought we rushed a little bit and those are things we'll get better at as the season goes on."

Jackson limited its turnovers in the second half, only committing six, but failed to make shots.

Notre Dame subsequently was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the decisive third quarter.

The Bulldogs were 8 of 12 from long range for the game.

"Our size is not going to let us go inside," Peters said. "If we can't score from the outside we're in trouble. We shoot a lot, so credit to the girls."

Shooting was an issue for the Indians all night.

Jackson finished just 3 of 20 from 3-point range.

"Our defense is our offense," Peters said. "Obviously what we lack in size we need to make up in hustle and heart and back-pick and press. Anytime we can take teams out of their rhythm -- we talked about that -- that's what we need to do."

The Bulldogs certainly did.

Cassidi Tomsu was the only Indian in double figures with a game-high 18 points.

"She's a really good offensive player," Abernathy said of Tomsu. "She's a good player. But we have other good players around her. We just got a little reliant on her there in the second half."

Beussink paced Notre Dame with 16 points while Kaitlin Welter joined her in double figures with 11 points, including three triples.

Jackson 7 9 6 13 -- 35

Notre Dame 12 18 15 12 -- 57

JACKSON (35) -- Cassidi Tomsu 18, Autumn Reid 4, Kayla Keith 4, Rachel Crites 5, Emily Gartman 2, Madison Eckley 2. FG 6, FT 14-16, F 15. (3-pointers: Tomsu 2, Crites 1. Fouled out: none.)

NOTRE DAME (57) -- Kaitlin Welter 11, Halle Lynch 2, Karsen Powers 8, Shleby Beussink 16, Annie Siebert 9, Maddie Urhahn 1, Kayce Landewee 3, Madeline Rosenquist 3, Taylor Feeney 4. FG 11, FT 11-12, F 18. (3-pointers: Welter 3, Powers 2, Landewee 1, Rosenquist 1, Siebert 1. Fouled out: Lynch.)