Lady T's Take Touchstone Energy Holiday Tourney:  Beat Graceland and Mayville State
By Dan Holsworth
Madison Daily Leader

     "This was an excellent overall performance for our team," said DSU Coach Jeff Dittman. "We played all three phases of the game well, and we played with good concentration for 40 minutes. This is the type of effort and intensity we needed as we head into the conference season."  The Lady T's will be taking a 6-2 record into DAC-10 Conference-opening play at Minot, N.D., Friday, and then moving on to Dickinson Saturday.

     On Sunday, Tewes, both an all-tournament selection and the classic's MVP, canned 14 points to lead DSU.  Bottum, another all-tourney pick, added 13 points and Van Loy 10 as the Lady T's outgunned Mayville
32-18 in field goals.

	"Offensively, we shot 47-percent (32-68) from the field and 72 percent (13-15) from the free throw line," said Lady T's Coach Jeff Dittman.  The Lady T's out-rebounded Mayville 33-31, including an all-important 15 offensive rebounds.  Tewes had seven rebounds, while Maria Gengler and Bottum each had five.
Tournament MVP:  Laura Tewes All-Tournament:  Renae Bottum

     "With our shooting percentage and offensive boards, we were able to score on the majority of our possessions," added Dittman.  "Defensively, I thought we contested the majority of their shots very well.  We also limited them to only one shot most of the time, so I was pleased with our defensive effort."

     Mayville (2-6) got 19 game-high points from Jessica Haugen, another all-tourney selection, and 12 apiece by Kelly Latozke and Steph Meggers.  Dena Benge also had eight rebounds and Meggers had five for the Lady Comets.

Third Place
Buena Vista 91
Graceland 49

     In the third-place game, Buena Vista (1-1), ran roughshod over Graceland 91-49, powered by Kelly Staley, an all-tourney pick, who scored 15 points.  Krisina Kapler also scored 15, Jess Griggs, 14 and Holly McDonough 10 as Buena Vista had a 32-17 field-goal advantage over Graceland.  Kapler had eight rebounds and Staley seven.    The winners also outscored Graceland 19-13 at the charity stripe.

     Graceland (0-7) got 12 points from final all-tourney selection Amy Giehtbrock.  Jessica Crockett also scored eight points and LaShonda Davison six.  Crockett and Giehtbrock each had five rebounds.

Saturday's Games
DSU 70
Graceland 61

     In Saturday's finale, the Lady T's got double-figure scoring from Sara Nelson, Tewes, and Bottum, earning respective 13-, 11- and 10-point games, as DSU earned a 29-19 field-goal edge over Graceland.

     DSU needed a 38-25 first half to counteract a 36-32 second-half performance by Graceland, which got a tilt-top 28-point showing from Giehtbrock and 10 more points by Jenny Coulson.  Graceland also outscored the Lady T's 22-12 at the freethrow line.

     "Defensively, we did a pretty good job overall, but our fouls allowed Graceland to get to the freethrow line too often.  We can't give up 30 freethrow attempts to our opponents if we want to be successful." 

     Dittman was enthusiastic about the play of Bottum, Nelson and Lindsey Binger.  "Lindsey did an excellent job of reading the defense, and either scoring herself or getting the ball to open teammates.  Sara was outstanding on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds the first half before getting into foul trouble early in the second half.  Renae did a good job of passing the ball, handing out seven assists."

Mayville 80
Buena Vista 70

     Mayville got double-digit scoring from Meggers, Benge, Haugen and Latozke to hand Buena Vista a 10-point defeat.  Meggers got 20 points, Benge 19, Haugen 16 and Latozke 14.

     Mayville trailed Buena Vista by as much as 12 points before pulling within two points, 37-39, at halftime.  The Lady Comets then went on a 43-31 second-half scoring tear to get the win. 

     Buena Vista got 17 points by Kapler, 16 by Katie Maguire and 15 from Staley.