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The University of
Mary (27-2) ended Dakota State University's women's
basketball season Tuesday, gaining a 65-48 win over
the Lady T's in Bismarck, N.D., in the DAC-10
Playoffs. Mary fashioned a 24-14 halftime lead
over the Lady T's (11-18) and held them off with a
41-34 second-half scoring run to gain the win.
Despite the loss, DSU Coach Jeff Dittman admired the
play of his Lady T's Tuesday. "We had
another stellar performance by our defense,"
said Dittman. "Mary is an outstanding offensive
team, and we held them to only 24 points in the
first half and 29 percent shooting from the field.
"We weren't able to
hold them down as well in the second half, but the
loss is the fault of our offensive play -- not the
defense. We had a chance to put some pressure on
Mary the first half, but we shot only 25 percent
from the field and scored 14 points."
On offense, DSU managed to get double- figure scoring from just two
players, Sara Nelson and Amber Malvin, who had respective 15- and
10-point outings. Amanda Zephier was next with nine points.
"Sara gave us a solid post performance
against a couple of the best post players in the league," added
Dittman. Mary's defense limited the Lady T's to just 20-for-65
field goal shooting, including only two 3's.
"Mary
put a lot of pressure on the ball and got us back on our heals,"
concluded Dittman. "We weren't as aggressive as we needed to be
against their pressure in the first half.
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 Sara Nelson
for the score |
On offense, Mary's Sarah Leer, Jessica Zundel and
Andrea Ronderos had double-digit scoring, with Leer
popping in 23 points, Zundel 15 and Ronderos
13. The Lady Marauders went 30-84 from the
field, including six 3-pointers. Mary also
out-rebounded DSU 39-27 with Zundel claiming 15
caroms. McClelland had six of the Lady T's 27
rebounds.
On Friday, Mary faces S.D.
Tech, which beat Black Hills State 79-60 Tuesday, in
the DAC-10 Playoffs' semifinals. Valley City
will be at Minot State for the second semifinal
game.
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