Dakota State University's Lady Trojans had just enough fuel
in the tank to hand Si-Tanka Huron a 64-60 loss Thursday in
the DSU Fieldhouse. Leading 30-25 at halftime, DSU
(9-10 overall and 4-5 in the DAC-10) saw Si-Tanka Huron
(4-15, 1-8) outscore the Lady T's 35-34 in the second half.
The Lady T's defense, according to
Coach Jeff Dittman, played a key role in the victory.
"We got back to playing Dakota State basketball
tonight," said Dittman. "Instead of allowing 75 or
more points, as we did last weekend, we concentrated on our
defense and held Huron to 26-percent shooting (20-for-78)
from the field and 60 points. Our defense also had 10 steals
that we converted into a number of fastbreak lay-ups."
Supporting that defensive effort
was the scoring of Renae Bottum and Sara Nelson, who entered
double-figures displays of 24 and 12 points, respectively.
The Lady T's went 24-55 from the field and 13-20 at the
charity stripe.
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Renae
Bottum |
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Sara
Nelson |
Amanda Zephier, Nelson and Hali McClelland had double-digit
nights off the boards. McClelland claimed 12 caroms, while
Nelson had 11 and Zephier 10.
"Renae had an excellent game,
scoring from behind the 3-point line, getting out on the
break for lay-ups and getting to the free throw line for 24
points," added Dittman. "Sara was also 5-9 from
the field and had another double-double (points/rebounds)
game for us."
Si Tanka-Huron was led by Jolene
Gaines, Stephanie Harkless and Tara Prue who all had
double-figures scoring nights for the Screaming Eagles,
collecting, respectively, 17, 14 and 10 points. Gaines
also had 11 rebounds, Judith Crespo nine and Harkless eight,
despite seeing the Lady T's produce a 52-45 rebound edge.
"I was very pleased with our
effort," concluded Dittman. "The losses last
weekend took some of our confidence away, but I thought we
came out and competed very well tonight. We were the
aggressors on both ends of the court, and that is critical
for our success."
The Lady T's travel to North Dakota
next weekend, visiting Dickinson State Friday and Minot
State Saturday.
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