Dittman Steered DSU Into "Elite Eight"
By Wade Merry
Sioux Falls Argus Leader

     Jeff Dittman had high expectations for his Dakota State University women's basketball team entering last season, but what the Lady T's accomplished may have caught even the most optimistic of coaches off guard.

     Behind the strength of five seniors and a pair of juniors, Dakota State set a school record for victories (25) on the way to a first-ever berth in the Elite Eight at the NAIA National Tournament.

     Along the way, the Lady T's shared the regular-season title in the now-defunct South Dakota/Iowa Athletic Conference with a 10-4 mark and swept through the postseason tournament by posting wins over Mount Marty (79-61) and South Dakota Tech (79-71).

     For his accomplishments in guiding the Lady T's to such a lofty finish, Dittman has been named the South Dakota Sportswriters Association Women's Coach of the Year.

     After getting through its non-conference schedule rather unscathed, Dakota State started 3-0 in the SDIC and seemed headed for glory.  Then came three consecutive losses and doubts began to creep in.

     "We went from feeling really good to wondering if we were even going to make the playoffs," said Dittman, who is now in his eighth season with the Lady T's.

     That mini-slump and how could the team correct it was the first key to the season, Dittman said.  After slipping to the .500 plateau, Dittman and his Lady T's had a closed door session.

     "Six games into the SDIC season, we were just 3-3, and we were beginning to question ourselves," said Dittman.  "Coming out of that meeting, we were much more focused on the roles we need to play to be successful.  From that point on, we had a number of people who had career- high games, and consequently, played the best basketball of their careers."

     "Our defense prior to that was suspect, but after the meeting, our defensive intensity improved significantly and our rebounding improved to where we were out-rebounding teams by 10-15 a night."

The second key element of the year came after his Lady T's lost by 33 points at South Dakota Tech.

     "We had to regroup," Dittman said.  "We sat down and talked about character.  We knew an important part of becoming champions was to refocus.  Each year, we tell our seniors that our success is dependent on them," says Dittman.  "And this is what we told Kazzi Foster, Amy Gappa, Sheila Haack, Krista Peterson and Kate Sizer.  These ladies set the standard for work habits, competitive nature, discipline and sacrifice which the rest of the team followed."

     The next night, with the season possibly hanging in the balance, the bruised and battered Lady T's went out and scored 102 points at Black Hills State and the ship was back on course.

     "We knew we had everything back in control," said Dittman, who experienced a run at an NCAA men's championship as an assistant at Arkansas-Little Rock when the Trojans upset Notre Dame before falling in double-overtime to North Carolina State in the first round of the 1986 Midwest Region in Minneapolis.

     In fact, he draws a comparison between that magical squad and his Lady T's.

     "They will both forever be a part of my memories," said Dittman, whose coaching resume also includes a stop at Sam Houston State where he was an assistant in 1987-88 before taking over the head spot with the Bearkats mid-way through the following campaign and led the team to an 8-1 finish after it started 2-8.

     "I spent a lot of hours with last year's group of seniors," he said.  "The year before we didn't even make the SDIC playoffs.  That was the low point of the four years we had together."

     The high point obviously came at the NAIA Championships in Sioux City.  Entering the 32-team field as a lightly-regarded 11th seed, the Lady T's knocked off St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.) 74-55 in the first round before upending tournament host Briar Cliff before a very pro-Charger crowd in the Sioux City Arena.  Krista Peterson's late 3-pointer was the difference as Dakota State won 58-54 to reach the Elite Eight.

     The dream ended a night later when Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) closed the game with a 23-9 run en route to a 70-55 victory.

     "Just talking about reaching the national tournament took a couple of years to get the athletes to believe they were that caliber of team," Dittman said.  "To a certain extent there was a sense of urgency for our seniors because of what happened the year before.  We hadn't achieved what some other teams had and the goals we had set for ourselves.  We couldn't get over that hump."

     That can no longer be said.

       
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