Nathan
Bellman's right hand is
still heavily wrapped from
an accidental tumble through
a plate glass door.
So, the Ohio Dominican
women's basketball coach
isn't taking much for
granted these days. And, he
wasn't allowing himself to
get too relaxed Thursday
when his team took a
19-point lead on
ninth-ranked Dakota State
early in the second half.
"We felt good, but at the
same time we knew they had a
lot of firepower,'' said
Bellman. "We knew at some
point their size was going
to become a factor.''
Sure enough, it did as the
heavily favored Lady T's
stormed back to seize a
dramatic 76-73 win in
first-round action at the
NAIA Division II national
tournament.
After all eight of
Wednesday's games were
decided by 10 points or
more, the opener to the
tournament's second-day
action was the first
single-digit thriller.
"We've been down 19 points
before, we just haven't come
back,'' joked Dakota State
Coach Jeff Dittman, relieved
to see his third straight
Dakota Athletic Conference
championship team survive.
"That's just what we did, we
survived,'' said Dittman,
whose team takes a
21-10 record into a
second-round matchup today
at 10:15 a.m. against
fifth-ranked Bethel of
Mishawaka, Ind. "Now,
hopefully, we'll settle in
and be more consistent
tomorrow. The important
thing is there is a
tomorrow.''
Ohio Dominican, which has
thrived all winter on its
three-point shooting, made
treys on its first three
trips of the second half,
turning a 44-32 halftime
lead into a 53-34 bulge.
The 20th-ranked Panthers had
connected nine times in 18
attempts from the arc to
that point, but they went
1-for-12 from long range
after that. And, it only
took about 10 minutes for
Dakota State to wipe out
most of the big deficit,
eventually tying it with
6:30 to play.
Katelin Beck's potential
game-tying shot was the
final three-point try for
the Columbus, Ohio, team and
Dakota State's Megan Swecker
didn't allow Beck enough
room to find the mark.
Laura Tewes, who had a
game-high 22 points for the
victorious Lady T's,
converted a weakside rebound
for a 74-73 Dakota State
lead with 2:20 remaining.
It stayed that way until the
6-1 Tewes found herself
double-teamed in the low
post, then located Jessica
Van Loy cutting down the
lane for the game's final
points with 31 seconds left.
It was a play Tewes and Van
Loy have negotiated
countless times in four
years as teammates.
"It's always in the back of
your mind that this could be
your last game,'' said
Tewes, one of five senior
starters for a team whose
sixth senior, part-time
starter Angela Carr, tore up
a knee in practice last
Wednesday. "We just had to
keep fighting.''
The Lady T's, all wearing
gold headbands as a tribute
to Carr, pulled it off with
strong rebounding. The 5-10
Van Loy, who added 13
points, had a team-high 10
caroms and Tewes grabbed
nine. They got another eight
apiece from 6-2 Maria
Gengler, who netted 11
points, and 5-9 junior
reserve Tricia Boldt.
"Offensive rebounding was
the difference in the
game,'' said Bellman, who
got his team to Sioux City
after tying for second in
the South Division of the
sprawling American Mideast
Conference.
League champion Shawnee
State, rated seventh, was
knocked off Wednesday by
unranked Minot State,
another Dakota Athletic
Conference team, and yet
another American Mideast
South entry, Rio Grande,
faced Black Hills State of
the DAC later Thursday.
Krissy Haines, a 5-9 senior
guard, had 21 points to lead
Dominican, 22-10, finishing
her career with 1,719
points, second on the
school's career scoring
chart. Katalin Beck, the
Panthers' only other senior,
added 12 points and junior
Amanda Ritzler netted 10 for
a team whose tallest starter
was 5-10 sophomore Kirsten
Ruen.
Chelsea Rogers, a 6-2
junior, was Dominican's only
answer to Dakota State's
size, coming off the bench
to snag 12 rebounds.
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