EVANSVILLE — On opening night of the Blue Devils 2024-25 season, guard Jer’Novia Hermanson stole the show in the second half.
The five-foot-5 senior started the second half making her first seven shots en route to the Blue Devils’ 66-36 win over the Dodgeville Dodgers.
On the night, Hermanson scored a team-leading 20 points which included a three-pointer for her seventh consecutive made basket in the second-half. The first six all came on layups or shots close to the basket.
“Overall, super aggressive. Good basketball IQ, getting the ball up the court, and then knowing when to pass it off and when to take it herself,†said Blue Devils coach Jenn Johnson on Hermanson.
“I thought I did pretty well after not playing for a year. I thought I played really aggressively,†said Hermanson.
After the first half of the play, the host Blue Devils led 25-13. Hermanson’s effort, along with a faster tempo offense led the Blue Devils to score 41 points in the second half.
“I think we just knew we had to come back stronger than we did in the first half and not play slow,†said Hermanson.
At halftime Johnson told her squad about not holding the ball back. Instead she wanted her team to be aggressive and attack the basket.
Hermanson did just that with a layup after intermission was over.
Brooklyn Maves scored 12 points and Isabella Ganoung chipped in another eight points.
Marlie McGraw and the Dodgers scored the first two points of the game, but on the night struggled to get their own offense going.
“Overall, we showed a lot of good things, but also a lot of things that we need to work on. Our experience and our youthfulness kind of showed tonight,†said Hayden Hardyman, Dodgers head coach.
The Blue Devils defense ran a zone defense known as the 1-2-2 defense. Coach Hardyman believes his offense had a tough time dealing with it.
“We just had a real tough time dealing with the zone, the 1-2-2 zone. Understanding that we need to get the ball in the middle and then somebody on the corners would be open for a dive down to the hoop, so that kind of hurt us in the second half.
Hardyman also mentioned the Blue Devils shooters getting hot in the second half as a problem for the Dodgers.
14 of Hermanson’s 20 points came in the second-half and six of Ganoung’s eight points came in the second half. Ganoung went 3 of three.
The leading scorer for the Dodgers tonight was McGraw, cashing in ten points with six of them coming from second-half free throws.
Fouls for the Blue Devils piled up in the second half, as they recorded 10.But it’s not something that Blue Devils are concerned about as they shake off the early season rust from the offseason.
“I think we’re just shaking off the rust, so we will come back next game better,†said Hermanson.
“Obviously, this is our first game, so [it’s] just a lot of getting to know each other and playing our game,†said Johnson, who is more concerned about the first-half stagnant offense.
“Offensively though, a lot of work there as far as not having a stagnant offense and continuing to move the ball around.
After falling 0-1 last year with a 52-48 loss against the Dodgers, the Blue Devils earned the victory tonight, starting the season 1-0. Next up on the Blue Devils schedule is Lakeside Lutheran on the road, Friday, Nov 22 at 7:30 p.m.
EVANSVILLE 66, DODGEVILLE 36
Dodgeville 13 23 — 36
Evansville 25 41 — 66
Dodgeville (fg ft-fta pts) — McBrown 1 8-11 10, Rielly 1 2-3 3, Brom 0 2-3 2, Bartz 3 3-5 9, Quinn 0 2-2 2.
Evansville (fg ft-fta pts) — Hermanson 10 1-2 20, Maves 5 0-0 12, Ganoung 4 0-0 8, Crull 2 0-0 2, Slater 2 0-2 2, Giehtbrock 1 -0-1, Klitzman 3 2-2 6, Speich 1 0-0 2, Diaz 0 2-2 2.
