Sports Editor

The thrill of victory was a feeling the Williston

girls basketball team hadn't experienced. It sure was

sweet for the Coyotes;(1-6) who not only got a

chance to see how a 'W' feels, but they also got a chance to see how a blowout feels as they dumped

Bismarck St. Mary's 80-53.

"It feels amazing, we're ready to turn it around.

We've had a pretty tough 2007 and we want to turn it

around in '08," said Jamie Njos, the Coyotes' leading

scorer.

On Friday, the Coyote girls couldn't keep pace with

No. 2 ranked Jamestown (7-0) falling 79-50, but they

played better than the score indicated.

"I thought we played pretty well against the No. 2

team, but we let it slide a bit, but this win will

give us a lot of confidence and we want to keep it

going," said Njos.

Williston coach Codi Austreim said the play Friday

night was big, despite the loss. "We had three players

in double figures and almost four players for the

first time, so we did some good things. I think at

times we'll miss some shots and get frustrated and

give up a big run, but we're working on changing

that," said Austreim.

Williston 80, SM 53

The Coyotes got it going with the inside play of Njos

and Brittany Nice on the blocks, while Chelsea Hicks

returned to the lineup to provide a perimeter punch.

Williston ran out to its biggest halftime total to

lead 48-33 at the break. In the second half, the

Coyotes continued to keep the pressure on being

aggressive at both ends of the floor.

The Coyotes shot 44 percent from the floor.

"We worked real well as a team, not one person did it

all out there. We had some great passes from our

guards and good buddy ball between our posts," said

Njos. "We've had some real tough practices and I think

we earned this win a long time ago, it's just now we

were able to show what we can do."

Njos led the Coyote surge with 20 points and 10

rebounds, while Hicks added 13 points and Nice scored

10.

St. Mary's was paced by Morgan Tescher's 18 points,

followed by Brittany Wolf with 15.

St. Mary's (53) - Morgan Tescher 6-22 6-10 18,

Brittany Wolf 4-12 7-12 15, Meagan Loomis 1-7 5-8 7,

Annie Hessinger 2-6 1-2 5, Bobbi Anderson 0-6 4-4 4,

Brook Christensen 1-4 0-0 2, Shelbie Heinert 1-2 0-0

2. Totals: 15-64 23-36 53.

Williston (80) - Jamie Njos 8-16 3-4 20, Chelsea Hicks

3-12 6-7 13, Brittany Nice 4-6 2-4 10, Megan Torgerson

4-5 0-0 8, Danielle Clarke 3-4 0-0 7, Miranda Zavalney

3-8 0-0 7, Abby Hagen 2-6 2-2 6, Kayla Kain 3-7 0-0 6,

Casondra Kleven 1-3 1-2 3. Totals: 31-71 14-19 80.

Halftime: Williston 48, SM 33

Three-pointers: SM 0, Williston 3 (Clarke 1, Hicks 1,

Njos 1). Rebounds: SM 46 (Tescher 9), Williston 54

(Njos 10). Fouls: SM 20, Williston 28. Fouled out:

Tescher, Anderson. Assists: SM 3, Williston 13 (Hagen

4). Turnovers: Bismarck 22, Williston 20.

Jamestown 79, Williston 50

Williston started in a 15-6 hole, but Abby Hagen hit a

jumper, Njos added a free throw and Megan Torgerson's

bucket underneath trimmed the lead to 15-11 as the

Coyote defense momentarily slowed the Jamestown

offense.

However, Jamestown's Amber Ramlo made a quick move

inside and Madeline Hornung hit a long jumper to open

up an eight-point edge.

Nice sank a couple of free tosses to try to keep the

game close, but the Saints were on a roll and went on

a 9-0 run for a 28-13 advantage.

"You have to give them credit. Their tall girls work

well around the basket and if you don't get to them

right away, they're going to score," said Austreim.

Kayla Kain hit a three at the buzzer to keep the

Coyotes within striking distance, trailing 37-21 at

the break.

However, St. Mary's came out of the half on a 14-4 run

and the Coyotes couldn't rally.

Ramlo, the Saints' strong post, scored 28 points and

pulled down nine boards for St. Mary's, while Morgan

Dale added 13 points and Hornung and Jenny Schuchard

each scored 10.

Torgerson and Kain paced Williston with 12 points

apiece, while Njos added 11 points, and Casondra

Kleven chipped in eight.

Jamestown (79) - Amber Ramlo 12-19 2-4 27, Morgan Dale

6-14 1-5 13, Jenny Schuchard 3-11 5-8 12, Madey

Hornung 3-7 2-4 9, Leah Jystad 2-8 2-2 6, Kara Wahl

2-7 1-2 5, Brooke Winson 1-1 0-1 3, Beth McMillan 0-5

2-2 2, Kristi Meikle 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 30-73 15-28

79.

Williston (50) - Kayla Kain 5-11 0-0 12, Megan

Torgerson 6-8 0-0 12, Jamie Njos 5-18 1-2 11, Casondra

Kleven 3-7 0-0 8, Abby Hagen 2-3 0-0 4, Brittany Nice

0-6 3-4 3. Totals: 21-57 4-6 50.

Halftime: Jamestown 37, Williston 21

Three-pointers: Jamestown 4 (Hornung 1, Winson 1,

Schuchard 1, Ramlo 1), Williston 4 (Kleven 2, Kain 2).

Rebounds: Jamestown 53 (Ramlo 11), Williston 35

(Torgerson 6). Fouls: Jamestown 9, Williston 20.

Fouled out: Nice. Assists: Jamestown 26 (Dale 8),

Williston 12 (Hagen 4). Turnovers: Jamestown 15,

Williston 31.