Early on, baskets weren’t falling against Westminster.

In the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets came out sluggish – shooting 4-15 from the field despite a win-or-go-home playoff situation.

Then, freshman forward Kerri Bungard buried a 3-pointer in the corner lane at the buzzer and everything changed.

“I really think the turning point was [when] … we hit a three right at the end of the first quarter,” head coach Sam Jones said. “That’s really when I felt the energy on the bench. There was a different feeling and we went nuts in the second quarter.”

Four players ended the game in double digits. Senior Rachel Eng and sophomore Erin Joyce had 17 points each. Senior Mackenna Drazich added 15 points and freshman Andrea Orlosky had 12.

After starting the first quarter of the game shooting 26 percent from the field, the Yellow Jackets returned to the court in the second quarter and more than doubled that percentage, shooting 64 percent.

It was the frustration felt in the beginning of the game, Jones said, that lead to the drastic change in the rest of the game.

“People were frustrated in the first quarter,” Jones said. “I really think we just paid attention to detail in the second quarter and we made the right read every time and then we were knocking down shots.”

One area the Yellow Jackets capitalized on was shooting beyond the arc. After shooting an average of 33 percent from 3-points through the first quarter of the game, the Jackets were able to multiply it to 70 percent in the crucial second quarter.

Leaders from beyond the arc included Joyce, who shot 5-of-8, and Drazich who contributed four 3-pointers herself. When Jones realized the efficiency in 3-pointers for the team, he said nearly everyone on the team got the go-ahead to shoot deep.

“That’s just part of our offense,” Jones said. “We pound it inside and if that is taken away from us we kick it outside to our shooters. Not everyone has the green light [to shoot 3-pointers], but pretty much everyone has the green light.”

Even the freshmen were finding success from the field against Westminster. With Orlosky leading with 12 points, the freshmen combined for 24 points collectively. Jones said having the offensive effort from the freshmen was an encouraging glimpse of what future seasons could hold for the team.

All in all, the evening, which led to the team shooting 48 percent from the field and 51 percent from three, Jones said was summed up to effective shot selection.

“We took the right shots on most possessions and most people stepped up and hit them because they were open,” Jones said. “They did what they should do … again I’m really pleased with our focus and ball movement.”

Looking ahead, Jones said if the Jackets can match the same offensive effort as they did against Westminster, they will be a hard team to overcome.

“When you have a team with four people in double figures and your leading scorer was not one of them, you’re going to be tough to beat,” Jones said.