Hersey's balanced attack tops Niles West

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:04PM

They call her Jewell of the Niles.

But a balanced Hersey withstood a 45-point outburst from junior Jewell Loyd to beat Niles West 66-56 in the season opener for both Tuesday night in Arlington Heights.

The No. 12 Huskies used a 9-2 spurt to close the third quarter as Megan Rogowski scored six and Jen Hall made a three-pointer for a 43-34 lead.

Rogowski, who finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists scored 12 in the fourth quarter.

"Our team was unbelievable," Rogowski said. "I've never seen anybody play like [Loyd]. I felt like she never missed. I tried everything on defense, but she found a way to get her shots and she made, what seemed like almost all of them.

"Overall, I'm happy with the way we played as a team. You always want to start 1-0, instead of 0-1. Everyone on our team scored and all five contributed.

Hall finished with 15 points and five assists in her first career start, Stefanie Mueller scored 11 and Maggie Hogan had 11 rebounds for the Huskies, who had only five turnovers.

"This was my first start, ever," Hall said. "It was really exciting.

Jewel is amazing. She's an unbelievable player. We played as a team and

rebounding was huge."

In getting her career high, Loyd was 17-for-31 shooting with five three-pointers and 5 of 6 from the line.

"Honestly, losing still bothers me," Loyd said. "I scored but we didn't win. I tried to carry the team, but I need help."

The presence of Loyd, one of the nation's best junior who played with Team USA in the summer, drew coaches Doug Bruno of DePaul, who signed Rogowski last week, and Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame.

The Huskies led by as many as seven and took a 29-24 halftime lead as junior point guard Hall scored nine points and Mueller eight.

Loyd started the scoring with a three-pointer and had the first 17 points for the Wolves. Nicole Moy got her team's first non-Loyd points with 3:57 to play in the half. Jackie Cardenas converted an offensive rebound just before the break.

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