December 6, 2015

Photos credits by Kaden Huntrods

MADISON, S.D. – Mount Marty (S.D.) went 4-of-6 from the 3-point line and outscored Dakota State (S.D.) 20-10 in the second quarter Sunday evening, propelling to an 84-64 non-conference victory at DSU Fieldhouse.  MMC earned the season series split, with the Lady T's winning the first meeting by the score of 78-61 at Cimpl Arena on Nov. 14.

Dakota State lost their third straight game, dropping their overall record to 7-5.  Mount Marty, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), improved to 5-4 overall record.

The first ten minutes of the game saw six ties and four lead changes.  After a pair of free-throws by DSU's BreeAna Olson for the sixth tie of the game at 20-20, MMC's Alex Kneeland nailed down two free-throws for a 22-20 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Leading 33-30 in the second quarter, the Lancers scored the last nine points of the first-half to gain a 42-30 halftime lead over the Lady T's.  Dakota State was held scoreless in the final 4:48 of the second quarter.

Mount Marty was 17-of-34 from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game (50 percent), including 6-of-13 from the 3-point arc.  Dakota State shot 10-of-23 from the field in the first-half (43.5 percent) and 2-of-5 from the 3-point line.

Lady T Olson made a basket with 9:15 on the clock in the third quarter to cut MMC's lead to 42-32, but the Lancers went on an 8-0 scoring run as their lead ballooned to 50-32 with 7:08 left in the third period.

Dakota State trailed 62-48 by the end of the third quarter.

The Lady T's could get no closer than 10 points at 64-54 with 8:19 remaining in the game.  Mount Marty outscored Dakota State 22-16 in the final period.

Kennedy Wagner tallied 14 points for DSU.  She was 6-of-10 from the field.  Courtney Hulstein scored 12 points off the bench on her 4-of-6 shooting (made both 3-point attempts).  Madison Walford added 11 points. 

Sharee Galbraith had nine points and earned eight rebounds for the Lady T's.  She had three blocked shots in the game.  Walford grabbed three rebounds and recorded two blocked shots.  Kendra Lindblad had six points and three rebounds.

Walford and Olson each dished out five assists for Dakota State.  Jordan Hansen stole the ball three times.  Wagner added two steals.

Kneeland poured in a game-high 32 points for the Lancers.  She shot 10-of-21 from the field, 4-of-9 from the 3-point line and made 8-of-9 free-throws.  Raquel Sutera added 13 points (5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-3 from the 3-point line).  Logan Wagner had 11 points.  Cassidy Gebhart scored 10 points.

Sutera led MMC with six rebounds and three blocked shots.  Kneeland, Gebhart and Sammy Kasowski each added five rebounds.

Logan Wagner produced three assists.  Sutera and Gebhart each had three steals.

Mount Marty shot 47 percent overall from the field (31-of-66) compared to Dakota State 44.4 percent (24-of-54).  The Lancers were 8-of-19 from the 3-point line (42.1 percent), while the Lady T's were 4-of-9 3-pointers (44.4 percent). 

Both teams went to the free-throw line 21 times, with MMC making 14 free-throws (66.7 percent) and DSU with 12 free-throws (57.1 percent).

The Lancers outrebounded the Lady T's 41-31.  MMC had 18 offensive rebounds compared to DSU 10 offensive rebounds.  MMC outscored DSU 23-7 in second-chance points. 

Dakota State will take a week off before returning back to action next Wednesday (Dec. 16).  The Lady T's head on the road to visit the top-ranked team and defending champions in NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Morningside (Iowa).  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at RVSC-Allee Gym in Sioux City, Iowa.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director