Hampshire stops Huntley's FVC win streak at 34
After overcoming a 9-point second-half deficit to take a late lead against Hampshire, it looked like Huntley was on the way to another Fox Valley Conference girls basketball win. But the Whip-Purs weren't done yet.
Rachel Dumoulin hit 2 free throws with 49 seconds left and sophomore Sarah Bowen made 3 more down the stretch to give Hampshire the 34-30 win at Hampshire, snapping Huntley's 34-game FVC win streak.
Dumoulin finished with 11 points, Lauren Herrmann added 9 and 7 rebounds, and Bowen had 6 off the bench for Hampshire (5-3, 2-1).
Morgan Clausen led the comeback for Huntley. She seemingly came up with every rebound and loose ball as the Raiders outscored Hampshire 13-3 from late in the third quarter until the 1-minute mark of the fourth. Clausen hit 2 free throws with 1:04 left to put the Raiders up 31-30, their first lead since 1-0.
But Dumoulin was fouled on the next possession and made both shots in the double bonus. Bowen then came up with a key steal, got fouled, and made both shots. After Clausen missed a 3-pointer, Bowen got the rebound, was fouled again, and made 1 of 2 for the final margin.
Clausen finished with 10 points and 7 boards, while Abbey Brown added 9 points for Huntley (3-4, 2-1).
"Our girls kept battling," said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly. "That's a good basketball team, a good program. They come at you.
"I'm proud of the way we just kept going after it. They didn't look at the scoreboard and hang their heads. Sarah Bowen, those 2 free throws at the end, for a sophomore to step up like that is enormous."
Bowen played big minutes because starting guard Kiera Guerrero-Gay left in the first quarter with a possible broken nose.
The Whips led almost the whole way after Dumoulin got them off to a fast start by scoring their first 8 points.
Hampshire led 14-9 at halftime with both teams playing tenacious defense. The Whips extended the lead to 26-17 late in the third before the Raiders started to claw back.
"I think what's most disappointing is just our lack of effort in the first half," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "Hampshire just completely outplayed, outworked, and out-hustled us for a large portion of the first half. We dug ourselves a large hole and we had to expend a lot of energy to come back. To our kids' credit, they did a great job of digging in and coming back, but again it just wasn't enough."