February 21, 2015

PHOTO GALLERY - Photo credits by Cody Welu and Tyler Flaagan

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS - Coming Soon

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) played their final regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at DSU Fieldhouse, hosting Dickinson State (N.D.) in a battle for playoffs positioning in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Women's Basketball conference action.  The Lady T's saw their 20-point lead in the second-half disappeared as the Blue Hawks stormed back for a 64-61 victory.

Dakota State suffered their fifth straight defeat and fell to 11-18 overall record and 2-8 NSAA record.  Dickinson State, who swept the season series with Dakota State, improved to 10-17 overall record and 4-6 NSAA.

The Lady T's kicked off the game by scoring seven straight points to earn a 7-0 lead with seventeen minutes and twenty-seven seconds on the clock in the first-half.  The Blue Hawks missed their first four shots of the game before making their first basket of the game with 16:47 left in the first-half (DaSU led 7-2).

Leading 16-12, DaSU went on another run – scoring 13 consecutive points – to expand their lead to 29-12 with 4:29 remaining before intermission. 

The Lady T's held the Blue Hawks to 21.9 percent shooting (7-of-32) in the first-half, earning a 37-22 halftime lead.  Dakota State was 44 percent shooting from the field (11-of-25) and made 11-of-13 free-throws in the first-half.

Dickinson State scored the first four points of the second-half to cut Dakota State's lead to 37-26.  The Lady T's answered back with a 9-0 scoring spurt to grab the biggest lead of the game at 46-26 with 16 minutes left in the game.

The Blue Hawks mounted a furious comeback with a 29-11 scoring run to cut the Lady T's lead to 57-55 with 4:24 left.

With DaSU leading 61-59, Alyssa Hildebrand drained a 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds remaining to give Dickinson State their first lead of the game at 62-61.

After the timeout called by the Blue Hawks, the Lady T's was unable to complete a successful back court out-of-bounds play as they committed a foul with less than second to play.  Hailee Farstveet sealed the game for the Blue Hawks after making a pair of free-throws.

Dickinson State outscored Dakota State 42-24 in the second-half (38-15 in the final 16 minutes of the game).

The Blue Hawks were 53.1 percent shooting from the field in the final twenty minutes of the game (17-of-32) compared to the Lady T's 10-of-30 field goal shooting (33.3 percent).

Kennedy Wagner led DaSU with 18 points on her 6-of-9 field goal shooting (2-of-4 from the 3-point line) and converted 4-of-5 free-throws.  Erin Rabenberg added 12 points.  BreeAna Olson scored nine points.  Sharee Galbraith had seven points.

Galbraith earned 12 rebounds for the Lady T's.  Madison Walford had nine boards.  Both Galbraith and Walford each had two blocked shots.

Rabenberg dished out four assists for Dakota State.  Galbraith and Olson each had three assists.  Galbraith recorded three steals.  Olson and Rabenberg each had two steals.

Megan Klein had a double-double of 17 points (8-of-12 field goals) and grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds for the Blue Hawks.  Lorna Shepherd scored 19 points off the bench on her 7-of-14 shooting from the field.  Farstveet added 13 points.

Farstveet produced eight assists for DiSU.  Rachael McDonough added four assists.

Paitton Herbst stole the ball four times for Dickinson State.  Farstveet, Shepherd and McDonough each had three steals.

The Lady T's shot 38.2 percent overall from the field, making 21 baskets in 55 attempts.  The Blue Hawks were 24-of-64 from the field, completing a 37.5 percent shooting in the game.

DaSU was 5-of-22 from the 3-point line, while DiSU was 3-of-15 3-pointers.

Dakota State converted 14-of-20 free-throws (70 percent) compared to Dickinson State 13-of-21 free-throws (61.9 percent).

The Blue Hawks outscored the Lady T's 24-16 in points off turnovers.

It was the final career collegiate game at DSU Fieldhouse for two Lady T's seniors – Rabenberg and Jayda Swenson (did not play due to illness).

Dakota State heads in the North Star Athletic Association Women's Basketball Postseason Conference Tournament as a No. 5 seed.  The Lady T's will visit the second-seed Valley City State (N.D.) on Wednesday evening with a tip-off starting at 7 p.m.  The quarterfinal game will be held at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse in Valley City, N.D.

Dickinson State, No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, travels to No. 3 seed Mayville State (N.D.) on the same night (Wednesday evening at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville, N.D.) at 7 p.m.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director