Facebook Photo Gallery Courtesy of David Wegiel’s Pinola Photography

A roller derby team on a roll wins in different ways.

On May 11, the Lafayette Brawlin’ Dolls withstood a late barrage, costly penalties and 101 points from one jammer to still defeat the Kokomo City of Fists Rollergirls, 177-133, in front of about 500 fans at the Brawl House in the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds. Previous victories were of the more dominant variety but this win was closed out with guts and clutch performances when they were needed most.

Off to a team history-best 3-0 start, the Brawlin’ Dolls dominated the first half thanks to a barrage of five different jammers and tough, punishing blockers. However, the second half belonged to Kokomo — or more accurately the towering yet speedy jammer JessPasst Jurass, who was used numerous times in the second half on her way to a 101-point night.

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Fighting through the Pack

Lafayette Brawlin’ Dolls stopped the bleeding with clutch jams from Psycho Socializer, Pon Farr Pixie and Get Shorty late in the bout. LBD captain Sugar Magnolia showed leadership, toughness and speed during her epic 22 jams, which earned the Dolls 77 points.

The second half was penalty-plagued with jammers getting simultaneous penalties a handful of times. These infractions cost potential and valuable power jams for their teams.

The bout ended with a lineup miscue that saw blocker Mad-Eye Molly as the only LBD skater. With a couple Dolls in the penalty box as well, Molly was forced to skate solo while Jurass racked up 30 points. However, Molly slowed down and stuffed the jammer multiple times to ensure victory.

The final seconds thankfully ticked away as Molly was swarmed by her teammates.

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Pre-Bout Team Huddle

In the first half, Sugar skated in four jams in a row. Combined with veteran Psycho Socializer, Sugar has risen to the top of the roster for clutch jamming. The newest jammer, Get Shorty, followed up a strong home-opening effort with a tremendous jam that ate up two minutes of time and got her 24 points.

Shorty was aided by bone-crunching hits from Dreaded Thunder, Pon Farr Pixie, Coquette Threat and others en route to her 30-point night.

Jurass, who played the Dolls strong in 2012, could have had an even bigger night were it not for strong defense from Thunder, Biscuits ‘n’ Crazy, Hepatitis T and Stitchez, whose experience and strength helped neutralize the Kokomo skater the best.

The Brawlin’ Dolls look to extend their winning streak to four when the black and pink take on the Cornfed Derby Dames from Muncie June 29 at the Brawl House.

Jammer statistics
Sugar Magnolia: 22 jams/77 points — 3.5 points per jam
Psycho Socializer: 6/42 — 7
Get Shorty: 5/30 — 6
Pon Farr Pixie: 3/12 — 4
Rampage: 4/8 — 2
Bubblegun: 5/8 — 1.6

Photo Courtesy of Pinola Photography

LBD with the Revolutionary Band