December 29, 2014

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Dakota State University Lady T's kicked off their busy week with four games scheduled Monday afternoon in the Morningside (Iowa) Holiday Classic at RVSC-Allee Gym.  The Lady T's kicked off the classic by dropping an 82-63 contest to Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Briar Cliff (Iowa).

Dakota State, which dropped their third straight game, fell back to .500 with an overall record of 6-6.  Briar Cliff improved their overall record to 11-4 after winning their sixth straight game.

The Lady T's and Chargers went through four ties and two lead changes in the first 11 minutes of the game.

DSU had their first lead of the game after Erin Rabenberg (SR/Glenham, S.D.) drained a 3-pointer with 12 minutes remaining in the first-half. 

Trailing 15-13, Briar Cliff used a 23-9 scoring spurt to earn a double-digit lead at 36-26 with less than a minute to go before halftime.

After Rabenberg hit a 3-pointer to cut BCU's lead to 36-31, Summer Gordon made a field goal with three seconds left to lift the Chargers' lead to 38-31 by intermission.

Dakota State could get no closer than four points at 46-42.  Briar Cliff outscored the Lady T's 36-21 in the final 14:53 of the game to secure the victory.

Madison Walford (FR/Devils Lake, N.D.) and Courtney Hulstein (JR/Fulda, Minn.) each led the Lady T's with 14 points.  Walford was 6-for-9 from the field and made both free-throw attempts.  Hulstein was 5-fo-13 from the field, including 4-for-10 from the 3-point line.

Rabenberg scored 12 points from her four 3-pointers in the game for Dakota State.  BreeAna Olson (SO/Nunda, S.D.) added 10 points.

Sharee Galbraith (JR/Winner, S.D.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and tallied six points for DSU.  She recorded two blocked shots.  Rabenberg earned seven boards.

Olson produced three assists for the Lady T's.  She stole the ball four times.  Galbraith, Hulstein and Kennedy Wagner (FR/Chamberlain, S.D.) each had two assists.

Five BCU players scored in double digits led by Kaylee Blake with 16 points.  Lexi Heschke and McKenzie Shipley each added 11 points.  Slone Masters and Gordon each had 10 points.

Masters grabbed eight rebounds for the Chargers.  Chante Williams had five assists.  Henschke and Masters each recorded three steals.

BCU shot 47.1 percent from the field, converting 32 baskets in 68 attempts.    DSU was 35.4 percent from the field (23-of-65).

The Lady T's were 9-for-28 from the 3-point range (32.1 percent) compared to the Chargers' 3-for-14 3-pointers (21.4 percent).

Briar Cliff struggled at the free-throw line, going 15-of-27 free-throws (55.6 percent).  Dakota State, which ranked fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage as of Monday, was near perfect at the free-throw line by going 8-for-9 (88.9 percent).

BCU outrebounded DSU 46-40 in the game. 

Dakota State looks to end their losing skid Tuesday evening as they face the host-team Morningside (Iowa), ranked No. 1 in the latest NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, in the Morningside Holiday Classic.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at RVSC-Allee Gym.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director