Dakota
State University's sixth-ranked Lady Trojans sent
NAIA defending champion Hastings College into the
loss column Friday, posting an
82-78 win in the USF Classic at
Sioux Falls.
Hastings (31-6 a year ago) entered Friday's game as the
top-ranked team in the NAIA's preseason poll; the
Lady T's (22-11 in 2006-07)
were rated sixth.
"This was an outstanding game for both squads," said DSU
Coach Jeff Dittman. "For the season opener, both
teams showed a lot of polish
on offense. The defenses struggled to make stops against
each other as the offense was the
dominant part of this game."
On Saturday, the Lady T's ran their record to 2-0 with
an 87-81 victory over USF.
"This was an offensive battle all the way," said
Dittman.
"Neither team's defense could do much throughout the
evening."
Lady T's 82, Hastings 78
DSU
avenged their 55-41 loss to Hastings in the NAIA
Quarterfinals last March in Sioux City, Iowa, by
nipping Hastings in the
Stewart Center 82-78, coming back from a
nine-point deficit with seven minutes remaining
in the ballgame.
DSU had a huge 46-28 rebound edge over Hastings.
"The key for our win was our rebounding," said
Dittman. "We had 19 offensive
rebounds and held that 46-28 rebound
advantage overall."
Laura Tewes claimed eight rebounds, and Tricia
Boldt and Geraets each had
six.
 DSU
was led by the double-figures scoring of Tewes, Jessica
VanLoy and Geraets.
Tewes snapped in 18 points on 8-for-14 field goal
shooting.
Geraets was right behind with 17 points, going 6-11 from
the field, and VanLoy had 15 points, going 5-10 in field
goals.
As a
team, the Lady T's went 32-69 in field goals and 15-19
at the free throw line.
Angela Carr contributed nine points and Maria
Gengler tacked on eight.
"Our squad did a good job of tightening up the defense,
forcing six turnovers down the stretch," added
Dittman. "On the offensive
end, a number of our athletes made plays that
allowed us to take the lead."
DSU's defense limited Hastings to 28-63 field goal
shooting as Hastings got 21
game-high points from Stacy Svoboda. Kay
Broekmeier added 17 points, Maggie Schmaderer 15
and Amber Kulus 12.
Lady T's 87, USF 81
 On
Saturday, VanLoy kicked her game up a notch, leading the
Lady T's to its six-point win over USF with 24
points and seven rebounds.
Jill Hansen came through with 16 points and Tewes
added 10 as DSU went 31-75
from the field and 17-29 at the charity
stripe.
Gengler also had seven rebounds and Tewes added six as
the
Lady T's outrebounded USF 46-40.
DSU had a 43-35 halftime edge.
USF got 19 points from Jenna Kraayenbrink and 15 by
Jacey Olson. Kristen McMahon
also had 13 points and Jessica
Renshaw 10 as the Lady Cougars were 29-61 in field goals
and 19-26 at the free throw line.
Kraayenbrink also had a game-tops 11 rebounds.
The Lady T's are at home this
week hosting Mount Marty Cliff
Tuesday, Dordt Friday and
Briar Cliff Saturday. Tuesday's game is at 6 p.m. The
game against Dordt starts at 8 p.m. and the Briar Cliff
contest is at 3 p.m.
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