January 10, 2015
Photo credits by Kaden Huntrods and Donald Weidler
MADISON, S.D. – Long-time rivals Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) and Dakota State (S.D.) featured a tale of two halves in women's basketball non-conference action Saturday evening at DSU Fieldhouse. The Lady T's went 6-for-11 from the 3-point line in the first-half while holding DWU to 29.4 percent shooting as DSU earned a 35-27 halftime lead. The Tigers exploded with 8 3-pointers and 24-of-28 free-throws in the second-half to rally back for an 81-75 victory over DSU.
Dakota State fell to 7-9 overall record while Dakota Wesleyan improved to 11-8 overall record.
The Tigers opened up with a 17-7 scoring run with ten minutes and forty-eight seconds left in the first-half (all seven DSU Lady T's points came from Courtney Hulstein (JR/Fulda, Minn.).
The Lady T's roared back by using a 28-10 monstrous closing run to gain an eight-point halftime lead. Dakota State had their first lead of the game at 23-21 after a field goal by Jayda Swenson (SR/Goodwin, S.D.) (assisted by Kennedy Wagner (FR/Chamberlain, S.D.)) with 4:13 left before intermission.
DSU shot 46.4 percent from the field (13-for-28) in the first-half compared to DWU 10-for-34 shooting from the field. The Lady T's were 54.5 percent from the 3-point line while the Tigers did not make a single 3-pointer in six attempts.
DWU kicked off the second-half with an 11-3 scoring run to tie the game at 38-38 with less than 15 minutes remaining.
Tied at 40, the Lady T's exploded with a 14-6 spurt (DSU 5-for-7 from the field during the span) to grab a 54-46 lead with 10:59 left.
The Tigers would answer back with an 18-10 run for the fifth tie of the game at 64-64 with 4:45 on the clock.
With the eighth tie of the game recorded at 72-72, Dakota Wesleyan closed the game with a 9-3 scoring run to earn a six-point victory.
DWU outscored DSU 54-40 in the second-half. The Tigers shot 11-for-22 from the field (50 percent) in the second-half, with 8 field goals coming from 3-pointers. The Lady T's were 14-for-34 from the field (41.2 percent) and 3-for-10 from the 3-point line.
There were eight ties and two lead changes in the game.
Hulstein led the Lady T's with 20 points on her 7-for-13 shooting, including 4-for-8 from the 3-point line. Erin Rabenberg (SR/Glenham, S.D.) scored 17 points off the bench (7-for-15 from the field and 3-for-6 from the 3-point line).
Sharee Galbraith (JR/Winner, S.D.) recorded a double-double of 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for DSU. BreeAna Olson (SO/Nunda, S.D.) chipped in nine points.
Olson dished out six assists for the Lady T's. Galbraith added four assists. Swenson, Hulstein and Rabenberg each had two assists.
Galbraith had a game-high seven blocked shots in the game for Dakota State. She had four steals.
Celeste Beck poured in 22 points – all in the second-half – for the Tigers. She drained seven 3-pointersi n the game. Gabby Frybko added 13 points. Katie Johnson and Ashley Bray each had 11 points.
Micaela Erickson and Beck each earned seven boards for DWU. Johnson added six rebounds.
Beck and Kristin Sabers each produced four assists for Dakota Wesleyan.
Dakota State shot 43.5 percent overall from the field, converting 27 baskets in 62 attempts. The Lady T's were 9-for-21 from the 3-point arc (42.9 percent).
DWU was 21-for-56 from the field (37.5 percent) and 8-for-20 from the 3-point line (40 percent).
The Tigers went to the free-throw line 37 times, making 31 free-throws (83.8 percent). DWU was only 7-for-9 from the free-throw line in the first-half. DSU was 12-for-17 free-throws (70.6 percent), with 9-for-12 free-throws in the final twenty minutes of the game.
Dakota Wesleyan had a slim rebounding advantage, outrebounding the Lady T's 39-36.
The Lady T's outscored Tigers 28-20 inside the paint.
Dakota State stays home Monday evening as they host Oglala Lakota (S.D.) in a non-conference game. Tip-off from the DSU Fieldhouse is set for 5:30 p.m.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
