The Dakota State University Lady T’s came to the
Corn Palace undefeated and ranked ninth in NAIA
Division II, while the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers came
in at the .500 mark. It looked like the ingredients
for a long night for the Tigers.
But Wesleyan gave Dakota State all it wanted and
more as the Lady T’s topped Wesleyan by just seven
points Saturday, winning 73-66.
The Tigers set the tone early, opening up a 10-4
lead with just under 17 minutes left until halftime.
But Dakota State, which starts four seniors
and a junior, showed its maturity and over the next
eight minutes outscored the Tigers 19-4 to seemingly
take control of the contest at 23-14. The charge was
led by Maria Gengler, who had 13 first-half points.
Wesleyan fought back and a 3-point hoop by Heidi
Lusk with 3 minutes to intermission pulled the
Tigers to within three, but the Lady T’s held off
the Tigers to take a 39-33 lead into the break.
Behind five points from Allison Johnson and a
basket by Nikki Tyhurst the Tigers opened the second
half with a 7-2 run to close to within 41-40.
Dakota State increased its lead to 46-40 only to
see Wesleyan come back when a 3-point shot by Sarah
Mortenson tied the game at 48.
The teams played evenly until the halfway mark of
the second
half when
Dakota State led 56-55. That’s when the Lady T’s
went on a backbreaking 9-0 run to claim a 63-55
advantage.
Wesleyan pulled to within four at 67-63 on
baskets by Allison and Ashley Johnson with five
minutes to play, but that would be as close as the
Tigers would get.
“I was proud of the way our kids competed and
that was what we expect out of our players,” Tigers’
coach Aaron Kahl said. “We battled hard, but we need
to find a way to come up with a few more rebounds
and a few more loose balls and to execute a little
bit better down the stretch to get the kind of shots
we want. But overall, we had a good effort.”
Allison Johnson led Wesleyan with 17 points and
six assists, followed by Ashley Johnson with 10
points and five assists.
The Tigers (3-4) were 29-of-70 for 41 percent
from the field and 4-of-6 for 67 percent from the
free throw line. DWU outrebounded Dakota State
42-36, but the Tigers committed 20 turnovers, a
problem that has plagued the team repeatedly in the
early part of the season.
“Our seniors did some things
very well tonight,” Dakota State coach Jeff
Dittman said. “We had a stretch where we got our
composure and attacked the
basket. When a team applies
that much
defensive
pressure, you
just have to
beat the first person
and you'll
probably get to the front of the rim.
You really have to give Dakota Wesleyan credit. They
played very hard and quick
and
for about 35 minutes they
forced
us to play the game on their terms.
But, down the stretch, we made the plays at both
ends.”
Jessica VanLoy led the Lady T’s with 19 points,
followed by Laura Tewes and Gengler with 15 points
each and Nicole Geaets with 10 points.
Dakota State (5-0) was 26-of-55 for 47 percent
from the floor and 19-of-30 for 63 percent from the
free throw line. The Lady T’s turned the ball over
18 times.
