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By Dan Holsworth
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"The Lady T's...completed thier most successful season in a decade," says Dittman. "The 1999-2000 squad shared the last SDIC title with S.D. Tech, compliling a 10-4 mark. Then, in the SDIC's postseason tourney, DSU posted wins over Mt Marty 79-61 and Tech 79-71. This was the first SDIC Tournament championship for DSU since a change in the playoff format in 1995."
With the conference championship under its wasitbands, the Lady T's drew an 11th seed in the NAIA Nationals.
On the Sioux City Municipal Auditorium hardwood, the Lady T's fought their way to the "Elite Eight," starting out with a 74-55 win over tourney returnee St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.).
"Aquinas finished the season 18-6 and had the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country," said Dittman. "Their shooting guard, Jackie DiNuzzo, was also the nation's leading 3-point shooter. With a stifling defense, strong post play and dominating rebounding, DSU posted its 74-55 win."
Next, dSU produced its second win of the season over Briar Cliff College, complementing a regular-season 92-88 overtime decision with a come-from-behind 58-54 victory in Sioux City. "The game was not to be a repeat of the scoring spree earlier in the year," adds Dittman. "There were 13 lead changes and nine ties in the game."
DSU scored the final six points in the ballgame with Krista Peterson notching a 3-ponter and free throw and Shypulski closing the game with another free throw toss success.
In the Lady T's final NAIA Tournament game, they fell behind to NW Nazarene early, but came back to within one point, 46-47.
"From then on, however, Nazarene ran of 23 points to only nine for Dakota State and the magical trip was over for DSU," says Dittman.
As for this year's DSU honorees, here are their stories:
Kathy Shypulski
Shypulski was twice tabbed as SDIC Player of the Week during the 1999-2000
campaign. Overall, her statistics proved out
her double honor, according to Dittman.
"Kathy had scored in double figures in 10 of 14 SDIC games," says Dittman. "She has had one 30-plus points game and two 20-plus games in those games. She is currently ranked in four categories in the SDIC individual stats -- scoring (10th, 13.4 ppg), free throw shooting (first, 97 percent), 3-point shooting (seventh, 39 percent) and assists (eighth, 3.2 apg)."
She scored 383 points, reached the 100-assist plateau and had 126 rebounds overall this year.
Sheila Haack
Haack completed her four-year career as one of the Lady T's anchor players
when the season ended in Sioux City.
"Sheila has been steady for us this year, averaging double-figure scoring against defenses that usually double-team her," adds Dittman. "She shot 65 percent (first in the SDIC) from the field and 72 percent from the free throw line. Sheila was seventh in the SDIC in scoring with 13.6 points a night, and had three double-doubles in the NAIA National Tournament. Her 11.2 rebound average was the second highest in the tournament.
Haack completed her tenure as a Lady T with a 395-point, 181-rebound season. She completed 59.3 percent of her field goals (1st in DSU and SDIC history) and 71.6 percent of her free throws and had 11 blocked shots.
Heidi Honermann
Hampered by an ACL injury, Honermann managed to net 75 points (10.5 ppg)
in the seven games she played, hauled in 21 rebounds, produced four thefts
and had 22 assists.
"Heidi was a huge part of our early success when Krista and Sheila were injured," states Dittman. "She is a player capable of making plays at both ends of the court. She can hit the '3' or drive by someone on the offensive end, then play 40 minutes of tough defense against the opponent's best offensive player."
"It was unfortunate that Heidi was injured seven games into the season as I felt she was going to have one of the best shooting season in DSU history. At the time of her injury, she was shooting 53 percent from the 3-point line."
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created by: Dawn
Dittman on
August 21, 2000 Last updated: 09/05/2006 |
