Lady T's Gain Split in USF Classic
By Dan Holsworth
Madison Daily Leader

     It was both the best of times and the worst of times for Dakota State University's Lady Trojan hoopsters Friday and Saturday in the USF Classic, which was held on the Stewart Center hardwood in Sioux Falls.  On Friday, DSU handed No. 7-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) an 85-62 defeat.

     "We played an excellent game in every aspect," said Jeff Dittman, DSU's head coach. "Our defense was outstanding, limiting Northwestern to 62 points and causing 17 turnovers. On the boards, we did a very good job of limiting their second shots, while outrebounding them by nine ((39-30)."

Saturday, however, found the Lady T's suffering a 78-66 lost to the University of Sioux Falls.  "I thought we played a good game," added Dittman. "USF just played better. There are some things we will have to do better to beat a quality team on the road."

     Dittman and his 2-1 Lady T's host another quality team, Dakota Wesleyan University, at the DSU Fieldhouse Tuesday (tonight) in a 6 p.m. nonconference ballgame.

Lady T's 85, NW 62

     A healthy 35-of-60 (58.3 percent) field goal shooting night was bolstered by Hali McClelland's 23-point performance. Jennie Sonne added 13 counters and 10-point games came from Jessica Honermann and Amy Balk.

Hali McClelland Jennie Sonne

       "We moved the ball well and had good balance with our inside and outside game," said Dittman. "Hali and Jennie did an outstanding job for us on the front line, while Jessica and Amy controlled the backcourt. We got control of the game early and were able to play from the lead most of the night."

Amy Balk Jessica Honermann

     DSU had 11-20 free throw shooting. Honermann and McClelland each had eight rebounds.  DSU led 42-31 at halftime.

     Northwestern got 15 points from Jaime Woudstra, 14 more by Lindsey Knopf and 11 from Jessica Ortman as the Red Raiders went 25-60 in field goals and just 5-15 at the free throw line.

USF 78, Lady T's 66

     DSU got double-figures scoring from four players, led by Balk with 21 points and McClelland, Honermann and Sonne with respective 16-, 12- and 10-point outings.

     "Amy did a great job of penetrating and creating shots for herself and others," said Dittman. "But, we need our other perimeter players to do that as well. We did have four people hit double-figure scoring, but we played from behind most of the night, and only once did we cut the margin to four or less points in the second half."

     Sioux Falls, which led 39-31 at halftime, hounded its home boards, outrebounding the Lady T's 44-25, which was a key to its win, according to Dittman.  "The most telling stat was probably the rebounding, where they dominated us," said Dittman. "We were only able to get five offensive boards the entire game."

     Courtney Farrell sparked the Lady Cougars' offense and board work with a double-double display, which included 26 game-high points and 12 rebounds.  Steph Austin added 15 points and eight rebounds and Jill Austin had 12 tallies and eight nabs.

          
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created by: Dawn Dittman on August  21, 2000

Last updated: 09/05/2006