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The Hastings College women’s basketball team got
the start it was looking for. But that’s about it.
After jumping out to a 6-0 lead and scoring the
first seven points of the second half to take a 28-24
lead, the NAIA Division II No. 3 Broncos couldn’t hold
on in their season opener as they fell to No. 9 Dakota
State 56-53 Thursday night at Lynn Farrell Arena.
“This
was a great opening win for us against a quality
opponent," DSU coach Jeff
Dittman said. "I was
happy with our defensive effort and with our rebounding.
We've got some work to do offensively as Hastings was
able to pressure us into mistakes and turnovers but this
was a great effort by our athletes. Hastings is
one of the top basketball programs in the country,
winning three of the past six national championships, so
beating them on their home court is a tremendous feat."
Offensively, the Broncos shot just 34.5 percent
from the field (19-of-55), made 5-of-20 3-pointers and
hit only 10-of-20 free throws.
“They
did what they had to do", said
Hasting Coach Tony Hobson.
"We were inefficient and we played tired at times.
We didn’t look experienced at all.”
Senior
forward Laura Tewes recorded a double-double for the
Lady T's with 11 points and 11 rebounds, including six
offensive rebounds. Guard Jill Hansen also had 11
points and Angela Carr added 10. Dakota State,
which shot 40.4 percent from the field (23-of-57), held
a 46-37 rebounding advantage.
Still, the
Broncos had a chance down the stretch. After
Dakota State forward Jessica VanLoy made one of her two
freethrow attempts, the Broncos trailed 56-53 with nine
seconds remaining. After some confusion in the
backourt, the Broncos eventually got a good look from
one of their top outside shooters in Kay Broekemeier.
But the junior guard's shot from about five feet outside
the 3-point line was short as time expired.
"We made a
mistake on a rotation and gave Hastings a better shot
than we wanted," Dittman said. We took a step
inside the three line to defend a cutter and left a
shooter open. We were fortunate she didn't hit the
shot."
After Dakota
State pushed its lead to 55-50, McKeon was fouled on a
lay-up and made the freethrow with 15 seconds left to
get the Broncos within two. But, following a Lady
T's freethrow, Broekmeier's shot didn't make it to the
rim.
Hastings had
leads of 6-0 and 16-9 in the first half as Dakota State
started slow. The Lady T's made just one of their
first 11 shots of the game and missed their first six
shots of the second half.
But the
Broncos went the final six minutes of the first half
without a field goal as Dakota State took a 24-21 lead
into halftime.
"We've got
to work on starting halves better," Dittman said.
"A good start sets a tone for a game; it gives you
confidence, gets the crowd into a game, and helps
everyone shoot a little better. With the strength
of our schedule, we can't let teams get six and eight
point leads very often. I doubt they will let us
come back."
The Lady T's are at home this
week hosting #8 Morningside College
on Wednesday, Nov. 7th, at the Fieldhouse.
Wednesday's night begins with a JV game at 5:15 with the
varsity following at 7:30.
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