The Lady T’s scored 13 unanswered points in the final six minutes of the first half to break open a game that was within Dickinson State’s reach up until that point.

“We passed the ball around, which got the defense moving,” Tewes said. “… When we got the ball, it was just an easy shot.”

The 6-foot-1 forward had 18 points, 10 rebounds in the first half and did most of her damage in the post.

“She’s a tough matchup,” Dakota State coach Jeff Dittman said.  "She can go inside and jump over people with her leaping skills (she placed third in the high jump at the NAIA National Track and Field meet last spring) or she can move out to 18 feet and hit the jumper.  Laura worked hard last summer to get consistency in her perimeter game and it's paying off for her and us this season."

Dakota State got several of its points in the paint and held a 37-15 advantage on the boards. Dickinson State coach Guy Fridley credited that to the Blue Hawks’ inability to stick with the Lady T’s in transition.

“I thought we did a poor job in defensive transition,” Fridley said. “Give Dakota State credit, they moved the ball and they got the ball ahead.”

Brittany Mesa hit a pair of free throws with 6:34 left in the half, which closed Dickinson State’s gap to 31-22. The Blue Hawks never got any closer as they dropped to 4-13 overall and 0-3 in the DAC.

Tewes and Tricia Boldt scored 10 of the team’s 13 points during Dakota State’s run at the end of the first half that gave the Lady T’s a 44-22 halftime lead.

Outside of senior Elise Daughton, the Blue Hawks again struggled from the field.  The 5-foot-9 forward scored a team-high 19 points. She was 8 of 9 from the field.

The Blue Hawks shot 40 percent (21 of 53) from the field – the rest of the team besides Daughton shot 30 percent – and looked drained from Friday night’s loss to Mayville State.

“Elise came in and I thought she kept us in the game in the first half,” Fridley said.

Dittman was pleased with the offensive explosion his team had over the weekend. The Lady T’s, who improved to 10-7 and 2-1 in the DAC, were averaging 76.5 points per game, but will see that number go up after Saturday’s victory and a 90-84 win over Minot State on Friday night.

“Everyone played a good ball game tonight,” Dittman said. “The running game got us a lot of easy buckets.”

Still, the coach was more impressed with the Lady T’s defense, which entered the game ranked last in the DAC.

"Being 8th should sting our (the Lady T’s) pride a little bit,” he said.  "We will not have a chance of repeating as conference champions if we don't get better at shutting teams down.  Tonight was a step in the right direction."

Fridley, meanwhile, was happy with Dickinson State’s performance in the second half, in which the Blue Hawks shot 44 percent from the field.

“I thought our girls adjusted at halftime and I thought we played even with them in the second half.”