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| Abby Gallus returned to the lineup wit 11 points, 8 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The victory in the Tigers' first of a hectic, three games-in-three days schedule also snapped a five game losing streak and boosted their overall record to 10-14.
Win No. 10 didn't come easily, however. Farmington's first half shooting percentage mirrored the frigid outside temperatures and thanks to a Raider three-pointer at the buzzer, the visitors went to intermission down 27-24.
"We told the girls at half if our shots aren’t falling, we needed to be more
aggressive to the basket and get to the line more often," coach Sondra Chadwick said. "We ended up making 22 of 34 free throws which for us is an incredible amount."
An aggressive defense and control of the boards also helped key the second half turnaround. The Tigers finally wrestled back the lead with nine minutes to play and never gave it up.
Five different players made good on free throw chances down the stretch to nail down the victory.
Sofia Chadwick scored a dozen points and added six rebounds to pace the Farmington scoring. Abby Gallus returned to the lineup after being out three games with concussion symptoms and contributed 11 points and a team-high eight boards.
"You can say I was very happy to have Abby back," coach Chadwick said.
Alicia Hett chipped in with eight points and three steals to go with a fine defensive effort that limited Hastings' leading scorer to just five points. Kaitlyn Gorden and Jordan Homeier each finished with seven points.
"I liked our balanced scoring tonight," Chadwick said.
The Tigers will pile up some more frequent rider bus miles over the next two days with Missota Conference road games Friday night at Shakopee and Saturday afternoon at Chanhassen. The Section 1AA tournament kicks off next week.
