NDSCS Women Rout Lake Region; Jacobson Picks Up 1st Win

For Adam Jacobson, Friday’s 94-55 win over rival Lake Region was years in the making.

After nearly two decades as an assistant coach, Jacobson - the son of legendary North Dakota high school coach Tim Jacobson - earned the first win of his head coaching career, something he credits his former bosses and mentors for.

“The experience of being in a lot of different locker rooms, at different levels, with different very good head coaches prepared me for Friday,” said Jacobson. “I pride myself in taking a little bit from each program that I had the honor of being a part of and I truly believe that each prepared me to be successful. Friday was a culmination of all the programs I had been a part of in the past, it prepared me for that moment.”

The win was the most dominant for anyone in the Mon-Dak Conference to start the 2021 season with the Wildcats leading nearly wire-to-wire and turning in some impressive performances.

The 94 points came despite 27 turnovers, proving the offense wasn’t anywhere near its peak.

All-Region sophomore Zaraya March started the season with a bang, putting up 17 points, five rebounds, seven assists and seven steals. Backcourt running mate Ambah Kowcun - a freshman from Australia - exploded for 33 points including 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.

Sophomores Izzy Thomas and Arthel Massaquoi got off to quick starts with Thomas’ 10 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and six steals flirting with a rare quadruple-double. Massaquoi - a transfer from Iowa Central - added 22 points and seven rebounds, making 11 of her 12 FG attempts.

Jacobson believes he could have one of the region’s top guard tandems in March and Kowcun.

“Z and Ambah complement each other so well,” said Jacobson. “Z has the speed, toughness, and ability to attack downhill anytime she wants. Ambah has the shooting ability, toughness, and the ability to create opportunities for not only herself but her teammates as well. One is a blur, the other is more methodical, but that change up in speed makes them hard to guard because they are both so talented.”

NDSCS is now preparing for back-to-back road games at Bottineau and Williston State, something that will become more normal with a condensed COVID schedule.

The Wildcats have just 10 players on the roster, making these game reps even more critical with limited ability to get scrimmage reps due to injury and illness.

Playing in games gives NDSCS – both players and coaching staff – the opportunity to get further acclimated to new roles. A factor that is huge as everyone adjusts to Year One under Jacobson with a new roster with COVID limitations.

“No doubt about it, not being able to get up and down in practice may be one of the most frustrating things about this season,” said Jacobson. “We do a ton of 5v0 and most recently we’ve had our assistant coach, Park Masterson, playing so we could get up and down more.  Live games are huge for evaluation, no doubt about it, but we don’t put everything on that cause we emphasize playing hard every single day regardless of what we are doing, that is what we evaluate the most.” 

NDSCS will tipoff with Dakota College at Bottineau on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.