Dumoulin's career night carries Hampshire past Dundee-Crown
Hampshire took advantage of Dundee-Crown's defensive aggressiveness by taking the ball right to the basket. It worked, as the Whip-Purs built a 20-point halftime lead, then survived a third-quarter comeback attempt and held on for a 53-38 win in Fox Valley Conference girls basketball action in Hampshire Tuesday night.
Rachel Dumoulin scored a career-high 25 points, including a perfect 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, to lead Hampshire. She scored 17 of those points in the first half as the Whips took a 32-12 lead. She also had 6 rebounds, an assist, and even a blocked shot. Meagan Heine added 9 points for Hampshire.
"We talked about Dumoulin and she had 17 in the first half," said D-C coach Sarah Miller. "She went right at us. Her dribbling was right to the hole, and we didn't have anyone really want to step up at that point until halftime. Then Allison (Michalski) went on her and she only had 4 in that third quarter."
Lucy Atherton had 12 points and 8 rebounds off the bench for D-C. Allison Michalski added 9 points and Madilyn Tripp had 8.
"We saw that they kept pressuring us, so we knew the back door would be open," Dumoulin said. "We just kept sticking to what we're doing, and it worked."
"We take what they give us," said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly. "If they're giving us back door, we've got to take that. Rachel really set the tone early. I thought Meagan Heine hit some big early shots for us. She didn't end up with a ton of points, but she shot the ball well."
Hampshire closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to lead 16-6 after one. The Whips used a 13-2 spurt in the second period to double the lead by halftime in the foul-plagued game.
Hampshire (10-7, 5-3) shot 34 free throws to 24 for the visitors. D-C, which dressed just 8 players, saw 3 foul out, so the 5 remaining Chargers had to finish the game. Then Tripp picked up her fourth foul with more than 2 minutes remaining.
The Chargers (9-11, 3-5) outscored the Whips 14-6 to open the second half. Gritty play by the Chargers and some sloppiness with the ball by Hampshire both aided the comeback. A 3-pointer by Payton Schmidt and a subsequent free throw by Anna Kieltyka made it 38-26 late in the third. But a 3-pointer by Heine to open the fourth quarter ignited a 7-0 run that put the Whip-Purs firmly in control.
"We always have that third quarter, which we know we either have to push through or just keep it going," said Dumoulin. "In the third quarter, we normally struggle a little bit, so in that fourth quarter we knew we had to pick it up."