November 21, 2014

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Dakota State (S.D.) trailed for over 39 minutes Friday evening, visiting the nationally-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) of the Great Plains Athletic Conference at Bultman Center as part of the Northwestern Classic.  The Lady T's briefly took their first lead of the game before the Red Raiders held on to a 75-71 victory after scoring the final six points of the game.

Dakota State fell to 4-3 overall record after the Red Raiders snapped Lady T's three-game winning streak.  Northwestern, No. 15 in the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll, improved to 3-3 overall record.

The Red Raiders raced to a 7-0 lead with seventeen minutes and nine seconds left in the first-half.

DSU ended their scoring drought with a basket by Sharee Galbraith (assist by Jayda Swenson) to cut NWIA's lead to 7-2 with 16:16 remaining in first-half.

With the Red Raiders' biggest lead of the game at 43-29 with 1:31 left, the Lady T's closed the first-half with a 6-0 scoring run to trim Northwestern's lead to 43-35 by halftime.

NWIA shot 41 percent from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game (16-of-39), but struggled from the 3-point line by making one 3-pointer in 11 attempts.  DSU was 39.3 percent from the field (11-of-28) and 3-for-8 from the 3-point arc.  Both teams made 10 free-throws.

Northwestern's lead grew to 50-37 with 17:17 remaining in the game. The Lady T's exploded with a 22-10 scoring spurt to cut Red Raiders' lead to one at 60-59 with 8:39 left to play.

Trailing 67-61, Dakota State tied the game at 69-69 after a field goal by Madison Walford with 1:40 remaining.

The Lady T's earned their first lead of the game at 71-69 after Walford nailed down a pair of free-throws with less than a minute to go. 

Katy Kuiper hit a 3-pointer as Northwestern regained their lead at 72-71 with 34 seconds left to play in regulation.

NWIA secured the game by making three free-throws (two free-throws each by Paige O'Neal and a free-throw by Arianne Gesell) in the final 10 seconds of the game (Lady T's could not convert a pair of scoring chances after missed field goals).

Dakota State shot 40 percent from the field in the second-half, converting 12 baskets in 30 attempts.  The Lady T's were 3-for-9 from the 3-point line and 9-for-11 from the free throw line.  Northwestern was held to 31.4 percent shooting from the field (11-of-35) and 3-for-10 from the 3-point line.  The Red Raiders were 7-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Walford earned a double-double with 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Lady T's.  Galbraith and BreeAna Olson each added 10 points.  Erin Rabenberg scored nine points.  Kennedy Wagner had eight points off the bench.

Galbraith had eight rebounds for DSU.  Courtney Hulstein added five rebounds. 

Olson and Rabenberg each dished out three assists for Dakota State.  Swenson, Olson, Rabenberg, Wagner and Jordan Hansen each recorded a steal.

Karen Ettleman led the Red Raiders with 19 points.  Gesell scored 17 points off the bench after 5-for-7 shooting from the field 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.  O'Neal added 12 points.

Ettleman and Gesell each earned nine rebounds for NWIA.  Renee Maneman had eight rebounds. 

Maneman produced eight assists for Northwestern.  O'Neal added seven assists.

Dakota State shot 39.7 percent overall from the field (23-of-58) compared to Northwestern 36.5 percent (27-of-74).  The Lady T's were 6-of-17 from the 3-point arc (35.3 percent) while NWIA was held to 16 percent (4-of-25).

The Red Raiders went to the free-throw line 28 times, making 17 free-throws (60.7 percent).  DSU was 19-of-24 from the free-throw line.

NWIA outrebounded DSU 48-45 in the game.  DSU outscored Red Raiders' bench 25-12.

Dakota State plays Grand View (Iowa) Saturday afternoon in the Northwestern Classic.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Bultman Center in Orange City.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director