October 31, 2015

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Dakota State (S.D.) Lady T's basketball team could not overcome Grand View's (Iowa) strong second- and fourth-quarters surge Saturday evening, as the Vikings handed DSU their first loss of the season by the score of 89-74 at Sisam Arena as part of Grand View Classic.

Dakota State finished the classic with a 1-1 record, while Grand View defeated a pair of North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) conference teams.

The Vikings opened up the first quarter with a 22-21 lead, before outscoring the Lady T's 23-11 in the second quarter for a 45-32 halftime lead. 

GVU was 45.7 percent shooting from the field (16-of-35) and made 12-of-13 free-throws in the first half.  DSU shot 40 percent in the first twenty minutes (12-of-30) and was 4-of-6 free-throws.

After the Vikings expanded their lead to 47-32 with less than nine minutes to go in the third quarter, the Lady T's went on a 27-13 scoring tear to cut GVU's lead to 60-59 with 26 seconds remaining after a pair of free-throws by Sharee Galbraith.

Taylor Nashert hit a basket with three seconds left to grab a 62-59 lead by the end of the third quarter.

At 65-63 in the fourth quarter, the Vikings outscored the Lady T's 24-11 in the final 8:13 of the game to secure a 15-point victory.

Grand View scored 27 points in the final quarter compared to Dakota State 15 points.

The Lady T's were led by BreeAna Olson with 17 points on her 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 free-throws.  Courtney Hulstein added 16 points.  Kendra Lindblad scored 15 points off the bench (5-of-8 field goals and made all five free-throw attempts).

Sharee Galbraith tallied seven points, registered three assists and pulled down 11 rebounds for DSU.  She had five blocked shots in the game.  Madison Walford and Cassie Jones each had four rebounds.

Olson recorded two blocked shots, two assists and two steals for the Lady T's.  Lindblad dished out four assists. 

Maddie Westergard and Brittany Halleland each poured in 23 points for the Vikings.  Westergard was 11-of-19 from the field.  Halleland was 6-of-13 shooting from the field and made 10-of-12 free-throws.

Renise Collier had 15 points for GVU.  Nashert produced a double-double of 12 points and recorded 12 assists.

Westergard posted a double-double with 11 rebounds.  Collier earned nine boards.

Grand View shot 44.8 percent overall from the field (30-of-67) compared to Dakota State 41 percent (25-of-61).  The Vikings went to the free-throw line 33 times, making 27 free-throws (81.8 percent).  The Lady T's were 20-of-23 from the free-throw line (87 percent).

GVU won the rebounding battle, outrebounding DSU 42-35. 

Dakota State looks to bounce back in the winning column Tuesday as they begin their first of the three games at De Witt Gymnasium in Sioux Center, Iowa.  The Lady T's play Dordt (Iowa) in a non-conference game at 5:30 p.m. before playing in the Holiday Inn Express Classic Friday and next Saturday.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director