Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The entire game between Regina and Solon on Saturday can be summed up perfectly by one single fourth quarter sequence that lasted a few seconds.

That play also decided the outcome.

Hope Simpson dug a loose ball out of scrum in the paint following an Annie Gahan missed layup and flipped the ball to Gahan for what proved to be a game-winning three-point play as Regina held on for a 29-27 win over the Spartans in a meeting of non-conference rivals in Iowa City.

The conventional 3-point play by Gahan with 20 seconds remaining helped Regina (9-4) overcome 26 turnovers while winning for the third time this season when scoring 33 points or fewer.  

“We just figured out a way again and that’s how the games have been,” first-year Regina head coach Mary Halvorson said. “It’s not always the prettiest but it just feels good to win.”

It was a struggle for both teams offensively from the outset.

Regina was plagued by turnovers, committing seven in each of the final three quarters, while attempting just 29 shots from the field.

Meanwhile, Solon (7-8) could get a shot to fall, shooting 23 percent from the game including an icy 2-of-29 from 3-point range.

“We played hard, we kept playing and we kept playing,” Solon coach Jaime Smith said. “I didn’t think we played bad we didn’t shoot well. I don’t want that to be lost in the shuffle because we just didn’t shoot well, I thought we played well.”

Despite the offensive struggles both teams had chances to win the game late.

Gahan scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds but it was her 3-point play the proved to be the difference.

Solon took its first lead since 3-2 with 1:47 left when Elly Holubar scored on a breakaway layup following a steal to put the Spartans up 27-25.

It stayed that way until the Regals were the beneficiary of a friendly bounce in the final 30 seconds.

“I got a little nervous,” Gahan said. “We had to relax and calm down rather than rushing up the court and we were able to get into a play that worked.”

Gahan had an open layup off a pick and roll play roll out and Solon had three players with a chance to grab the rebound but the ball caromed to Simpson.

Simpson came up with the loose ball and found Gahan alone under the hoop for what ended up being the game-winner.

“We set up ball screen for Annie to come off of it rather than Sam just with a little more quickness on the roll and we had Hope crashing aggressively,” Halvorson said. “It just worked out. The ball literally just fell in our hands.”

Gahan converted her only free throw attempt of the game to complete the 3-point play putting Regina up 28-27 with 20 seconds left.

“Luckily Hope was there to get that rebound,” Gahan said. “She has really stepped up having Lily out and she is really aggressive getting those rebounds and I just had to go up strong and get the layup and I got the and one.”

Regina then got two late defensive stops to secure the win.

Solon trailed 22-14 enter the fourth quarter but pulled even with an 8-0 spurt to start the quarter that was capped by a MaKinley Levin 3-pointer.

The Spartans had two possessions in the final 20 seconds to tie or take the lead but couldn’t get shots to fall.

“We kept playing and we gave ourselves,” Smith said. “We had a nice look, we got the play we wanted out of bounds. Through a bad night of shooting we gave ourselves a chance because we played hard and our defense was really, really good.”

Solon              5  5  4  13  –  27

Regina            9  4  9   7   –  29

Regina (29) – Annie Gahan 7-11 1-1 16, Abby Clark 0-2 0-2 0, Grace Gaarde 0-0 1-2 1, Claire Gaarde 0-2 0-0 0, Hope Simpson 1-2 0-0 2, Sam Greving 3-12 4-6 10, Team 11-29 6-11 29.

Solon (27) – Ava Stebral 0-5 0-0 0, Kaia Holtkamp 2-12 1-2 5, Makinley Levin 2-10 0-0 5, Jenna LaDage 3-11 0-1 7, Jada Buffington 1-2 1-2 3, Elly Holubar 3-8 1-2 7, Team 11-48 3-7 27.

3-point field goals – ICR 1-5 (Gahan 1-3, Clark 0-1, Greving 0-1), SOL 2-29 (Stebral 0-5, Holtkamp 0-6, Levin 1-6, LaDage 1-9, Buffington 0-1, Holubar 0-2). Rebounds – ICR 31 (Gahan 9), SOL 27 (Holubar 8). Turnovers – ICR 26, SOL 15. Total fouls – ICR 10, SOL 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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