Sophia Seffrood Bags Buzzer-Beater

The Lady Bulldogs conquered the Cardinals last night thanks to a buzzer-beater by senior Sophia Seffrood. With the game tied at 42-42, Jaecy Engebretson received the inbound pass, dribbled down the court, and found Seffrood who was wide open. Seffrood drained a three-pointer as the clock ticked out to give Milbank the 45-42 win in Clear Lake.

Seffrood led the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points, six rebounds, two steals, and one blocked shot. Gabbi Cummins followed with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

The Lady Bulldogs trailed 9-7 at the end of the first quarter and remained behind at 18-17 at the midway mark. In the second half, Milbank again trailed 31-29 heading into the final stanza. The game went down to the wire.

“Sophia’s big shot helped the team win the game,” said head coach Brian Pauli. “This game tonight and other big games will help us keep our positioning in the region.”

“​​If a person were to look at just the stats without knowing who won the game, you probably would have thought we lost,” said Coach Pauli. “Our shooting percentage was 35, our free throw percentage on the night was 46, we had 11 turnovers. That’s the bad news. Luckily, Sophia’s shot won the game for us.”

Adding to Milbank’s team totals, Molly Rick scored six points, five boards and one steal. Taylor Thue and Jaecy Engebretson tallied four points each. Thue grabbed five rebounds and made two assists and one steal. Engebretson snared five rebounds and contributed three assists. Lindsey Mertens snagged one rebound and two assists; LaChasity Finley, one rebound; and Shea Hooth, four rebounds.

Milbank hit 18-of-52 from the field for 35 percent shooting. The Lady Bulldogs squeezed out the win with 37 rebounds, 11 assists, six steals, and one blocked shot. They turned over the ball 11 times.

Deuel made 32 percent of their shots from the field – 12 of 37 attempts. The Cardinals ended the game with 33 rebounds, eight steals, and one assist. They committed 15 turnovers.

Senior Sophia Seffrood (file photo)