JACKSON BUMPS OFF ND 58-45

Andrea Koeper carried the Jackson Indians for the first three quarters.

Then it was Jenna Leet's turn.

Jackson, the third seed, knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame 58-45 Thursday night to advance to the finals of the HealthSouth Holiday Classic at the Show Me Center.

Koeper scored 22 points -- all of them through the first three quarters -- as the Lady Indians improved to 4-0 on the season.

"The first half, she scored at will," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "But I thought the girls came back and played her well in the second half."

Leet, a sophomore, scored all of her 11 points in the final 3:44. She hit perhaps the biggest shot of the game, a three from the far left wing, for her first basket to put Jackson ahead 48-41. She personally outscored Notre Dame 11-4 down the stretch.

The most crucial stretch of the game came at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third where Notre Dame missed 12 straight shots. The Lady Bulldogs led 21-17 at the 5:14 mark of the second quarter, but didn't score again until the 4:55 mark in the third. Jackson, by that point, had earned a 33-21 lead.

"For that short time we were impatient," Grim said. "And when we're impatient we don't take good shots."

Koeper was simply unstoppable in the first half. She finished the first 16 minutes of play with 14 points. She hit all three of her 3-point attempts in the second quarter and scored 12 straight points for Jackson.

"You talk about high percentage shooting," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. She made three threes in a row, shot well and hit the boards well."

"When you feel it, you just shoot it and when you're open, you just shoot it," said a modest Koeper. "My teammates did a great job of finding me.

"We're still a young team but we worked hard in the offseason. People just stepped up that had to step up."

Speaking of stepping up, Notre Dame's Lisa Millham scored 17 points -- 15 from three-point range -- while Deana McCormick put on an impressive performance in the paint. She ended up with 12 points.

Aside from Notre Dame's cold stretch, both teams looked sharp. There were only 11 turnovers committed by both teams. Notre Dame had five.

"It was a good game," said Grim. "Both teams played hard."

Jackson will take on its nemesis, Poplar Bluff, for the championship tonight at 8:30.

"I'm very excited about that game," said Koeper. "It should be a very good game. They're probably our best rivalry."

Poplar Bluff has won the last three HealthSouth Classics.