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Hali
McClelland (44) attempts to find her way
through the Huron block during Thursday's
match. McClelland contributed 22 points for
Dakota State University.
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Dakota State
University's Lady Trojans did their part in keeping
their postseason hopes alive Thursday, handing Huron
University a 75-63 loss at the DSU Fieldhouse.
The Lady T's
postseason aspirations now rest in the hands of
Jamestown College and Valley City State University,
each playing two games this week. A pair of losses by those two DAC-10 teams
would put DSU in the playoffs. Or, a tie with
Jamestown College would result in DSU making the
playoffs. A tie with Valley City however, will
leave DSU on the outside looking in.
Thursday's win left the Lady T's at 7-11 and in
ninth place in the conference, while Jamestown and
Valley City are tied for eighth with twin 7-9 marks.
"If they both
win a game, we are out," said DSU Coach Jeff
Dittman. "So it's just a matter of waiting to
see if we can get a little help and a chance to
extend the season. There are three different
scenarios that could occur and in each one, a
different team will be left out of the playoffs."
It was the one-two scoring punch of Hali McClelland
and Jessica Honermann which got the Lady T's
thinking about postseason play. "Our post players did an excellent job and we
were able to dominate the lane area," Dittman
said. "The balance we got in scoring from them
(McClelland and Honermann) gave Huron a lot of
problems."
McClelland, the latest DSU athlete-of-the-week, had
a 22-point, team-leading performance for the Lady
T's. She went a crisp 10-of-16 in field goal
shooting. Honermann was right behind with a 21-point scoring
display, which included a 10-15 night shooting from
the field.
Amy Balk added eight points and Trisha Grablander
and Sacha Santimano each had five as the Lady T's
went above the 50-percent field goal shooting mark,
going 32-62.
DSU also won the boards battle, outrebounding Huron
35-27 with Honermann nabbing six rebounds and Erin
Nielsen and McClelland four apiece. The Lady T's also got seven team-leading assists
from Balk, who also garnered four steals, while
McClelland had two blocked shots.
"It was her Amy's best offensive game of the
year," Dittman said.
Huron, which shot just 24-57 from the field, was
spurred on by Ruth Buffalo's 20 points, five
rebounds and four steals. Sunshine Archambault collected 11 points for the
Screaming Eagles, who also got six assists from
Jolene Gaines. |
