Hermus Returns In Style With Career-High 26 Points as St. Norbert Tops Bates

From Sports Information Director, December 28, 2010 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

LAS VEGAS - Rachel Hermus posted a career-high 26 points playing in her first game this season to lift St. Norbert College to a 78-69 win over Bates (Maine) College at South Point Arena in the D3hoops.com Classic.

The Green Knights improved to 7-1 with the win and are scheduled to face Kenyon (Ohio) College at 2 p.m. CST Thursday. Bates fell to 7-2.

Hermus, whose previous career-high point total was 19, had missed the Green Knights' first seven games of the year while recovering from an injury suffered last season. Hermus scored 18 of her 26 points in the second half to help the Green Knights hold off the Bobcats. Hermus was 10-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line while grabbing six rebounds in 31 minutes.

The Green Knights fell behind by as many as seven points on two occasions in the first half, the latter at 15-8 about six minutes into the game. St. Norbert slowly worked its way back into the game and took its first lead at 25-24 on Karly Telschow's jumper with 5 minutes 8 seconds left before halftime. Krista Pelky's fastbreak basket with 7 seconds left gave St. Norbert a 32-31 halftime lead.

Bates' Lauren Dobish connected on a 3-pointer on the Bobcats' first possession of the second half but St. Norbert tied the game on a Hermus basket and never trailed again. The Green Knights pushed their lead out to as much as eight twice before leading 70-61 with 4:38 left on a Hermus basket - her last points of the game. Bates could connect on two-straight conventional three-point plays to cut the deficit to three. After the two teams traded a pair of free throws, Jamie Kuhl's tip-in putback with 1:22 left gave St. Norbert a 74-69 lead to seal the win.

St. Norbert shot 50.9 percent from the floor, making 28 of 55 shots. The Green Knights were 20-for-25 (80 percent) at the free-throw line and held a commanding 36-23 rebounding advantage to give them a 21-7 edge in second-chance points. Kuhl finished with 12 points, while Stefanie Bunday added 11 points and Pelky 10.

Bates was 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) from the floor but drained 9 of 16 (56.3 percent) 3-pointers and was 14-for-15 (93.3 percent) at the free-throw line. Allie Beaulieu scored 24 points off the bench for the Bobcats, draining 6 of 8 3-pointers. Christine McCall added 15 points and Jessie Igoe 10.