Dakota State
University's Lady Trojans stayed on the winners' trail at
home Thursday, opening their DAC-10 basketball campaign
with a hard-fought 81-65 win over 7th-ranked University of
Mary. This was the Lady T's fifth game of the season
against teams ranked in the Top 10 in the NAIA or NCAA.
DSU posted a 4-1 record in those contests.
Coach Jeff Dittman's Lady T's,
who led 40-32, survived an early second-half scare.
Mary had sliced the Lady T's lead to just five points,
51-45, before DSU's defense shut down the Marauders'
offense, forcing Mary into many of its 16 gamelong
turnovers in the game's final 20 minutes.
"We did an outstanding job
of pressuring the ball defensively and attacking
offensively against Mary," said Dittman. "Our
defense put a lot of pressure on their perimeter game and
forced a number of turnovers. These turnovers resulted in
fastbreak opportunities for us that we capitalized
on."
DSU was bolstered by the
double-figures performances of Jessica Honermann, Hali
McClelland, Erin Nielsen and Amy Balk. Honermann led
the way with her 15 points, helping the Lady T's to 30-67
field goal shooting (including 6-18 from beyond the
3-point arc) and a 15-18 tour at the charity stripe.
McClelland was right behind with 14 points, Nielsen 13 and
Balk 10.
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| Jessica
Honermann |
Hali
McClelland |
Erin
Nielsen |
Amy
Balk |
"We were very balanced in
our attack, and didn't allow Mary to concentrate on
stopping just one phase of our offense," added
Dittman.
Despite losing the rebounds
battle by a slim 39-38 margin, DSU got six rebounds apiece
by Honermann and McClelland. Jennie Sonne and Nielsen each
contributed five. Honermann had five steals and
Andrea Gullickson three, while Molly Hathaway added eight
assists.
Mary got a game-high 16 points
from Natalie Brunner, followed by Sarah Leer with 13 and
Aften Miller 10. Mary was 23-60 in field goal shooting and
15-19 at the free throw line. Nicole Meier had a
tilt-tops nine rebounds, while Jessica Zundel added five
to lead Mary. Zundel and Jessie Slinde each had four
assists.
"This was one of our best
team efforts to date," concluded Dittman. "Our
players have shown an ability to play well in big games
thus far this year, and last night was another example.
Everyone did a great job for us."
The Lady T's host Jamestown College at 6 p.m. Friday.
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