January 26, 2012 at 2:36 p.m.
Dodgers battle Cubans on even terms
Rachel Pope's 25 points and freshman Taylor Stanek's 10 had something to do with it. So did the never quit attitude the Dodgers showed for the four quarters they battled the Cubans toe to toe.
The score was tied at 21-all at halftime but a quick Cuba City start to the third quarter eventually got the visitors up by 10.
The Dodgers battled back again and outscored them 16-12 the final frame. Pope had 13 of her points in the final quarter.
The comeback ended up a little short, but it was not for lack of effort.
"We started well and our defense turned into our offense," said Dodgeville coach Josh Busch.
The Cubans slowed the pace the second quarter and worked away at the 12-8 Dodgeville lead to get the game even by halftime.
Turnovers and a couple Cuban lay-ups to start the third quarter started the distancing between the two teams.
"Give our girls credit," Busch said. "They kept attacking."
He said the girls forced some steals and did a better job on the boards the second half.
"We had some good contributions off the bench and are doing a better job with attacking and setting up the open person," Busch said.
The Cubans were led by freshman point guard Chloe Pustina's 13 points. Freshman post Mollie Wedige added nine.
The Cubans made six free throws down the stretch, two each by freshman Shay Lierman and Pustina with one each from Wedige and Hannah Loeffelholz.
The win was number 499 for Cuba City coach Jeff Pustina.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
CC 8 13 14 12 47
D 12 9 6 16 44
BOX SCORE
CUBA CITY 47: (fg-ft-tp) Marti 0-2-2, Pustina 5-2-13, Steines 2-1-5, Loeffelholz 2-2-6, Lierman 1-2-4, Weber 3-2-8, Wedige 3-3-9 Totals 16-13/24-47
DODGEVILLE 44: Stanek 4-2-10, Pope 7-10-25, Crowley 1-0-2,
Bakker 0-2-2, McConnell 1-0-2, Zoet 1-1-3 Totals 14-15/24-44
3 point goals
CC-Pustina 1
D-Pope 1
