With everything that went
wrong for the Jimmies in the
opening half, head coach Mark
Wiest felt good about being down
just 11 points.
But
when the Lady T’s opened the
second half with a 10-0 run and
the Jimmies did not convert
their first field goal until
over eight minutes had trickled
off the game clock, the game
took a decidedly ugly feel.
“We ran into a team this
weekend that played
great
basketball,” said Wiest. “They
are playing
like the team that won the
conference last year and reached
the Elite Eight round of the
National Tournament.
They beat Morningside
on the road, who is
number eight in the country.
They beat Valley City handily on
Friday and they beat us.”
Defense has been the key to the
recent Lady T's success states
DSU Coach Jeff Dittman.
"We've turned up our pressure
defensively the past six weeks
and it's helped us win our
second straight conference
championship. The
intensity level we've had in
January and February has been
great."
Fifteen turnovers in the
first half contributed to the
deficit, but at the intermission
Wiest said the team was
realistic about a chance for a
comeback.
“In the last three or
four weeks have been in that
kind of situation and come
back,” said the Jimmie coach.
“The night before in Mayville we
were down and came back and won
the game. We weren’t at all
thinking that the game was
over.”
Giuli Varriano led the
Jimmies with 15 points and seven
rebounds
while Angie Carr, Jessica VanLoy
and Ashley Mailey led DSU with
15, 12 and 12 points
respectively.
The loss sets up a lot of
scoreboard watching this
Thursday and puts a lot of
importance on the Jimmies’
regular season finale against
Valley City State.
‘Nothing is really set in
stone except
Dakota State has at least a
share of the DAC title and
the number eight
seed is Dickinson State,” said
Wiest. “One through seven could
be jockeying. This is typical of
the conference the
past
few years. There is not a lot of
separation from top to bottom
and anyone can beat anyone.”
"The playoffs should be very
exciting again this year," said
Dittman. Last year a #4
seed got to the championship
game and the same could happen
again. Anyone, one through
eight, is talented enough to get
on a roll and win the conference
tournament. Having home
court is going to be very
valuable with the distance teams
have to travel in this league.
It is pretty difficult to win
the tournament if you have to
travel to Minot on a Wednesday,
Black Hills on a Saturday, and
Mayville three days later.
I think the team that gets at
least two home games has a
distinct advantage."
With one game to play, Dakota
State is guaranteed at least a
two seed in the tournament.
A win at Mayville State on
Thursday would give them the
championship title outright and
the number one seed in the
post-season tournament.
And maybe more importantly, the
opportunity to host three games
in the playoffs.
