January 6, 2016
Photos credits by Kaden Huntrods
MADISON, S.D. – The Dakota State University Lady T's basketball team overcame a sluggish first-half by outscoring Waldorf (Iowa) 40-28 in the final twenty minutes of the game for a 64-56 North Star Athletic Association conference victory at DSU Fieldhouse Wednesday evening. The Lady T's handed the Warriors their 10th straight defeat.
Dakota State raised the overall record to 10-6 and moved in a four-way tie for second-place with 2-0 North Star Athletic Association conference standings (one-half game behind Valley City State, N.D. with a 3-0 NSAA conference record). Waldorf fell to 1-14 overall record and remained wineless in seven NSAA conference game.
Both teams struggled in the opening quarter where the Warriors held on to a two-point lead. Taylor Kurtz hit a pair of free-throws to give WC a 15-13 lead over the Lady T's by the end of the first period. The Warriors shot 21.1 percent from the field (4-of-19), while DSU was 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from the field.
The first quarter saw five lead changes and three ties.
The Warriors surged to a double-digit lead by scoring the first nine points of the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 24-13 with 7:18 on the clock.
Trailing 28-21, DSU's Kelsey Little completed a three-point play with 1:48 left to trim WC's lead down to four points. The Warriors held on to a 28-24 halftime advantage.
The Lady T's shot 27.3 percent from the field in the first-half (9-of-33) compared to the Warriors 26.5 percent (9-of-34).
Down 33-27, Dakota State roared with an 11-0 outburst to grab a 38-33 lead with 5:35 on the clock after a three-pointer by BreeAna Olson (assisted by Sharee Galbraith).
With DSU leading 44-36, the Warriors closed the third period with a 7-2 scoring run to cut the Lady T's lead to 46-43. Dakota State outscored Waldorf 22-15 in the third quarter, thanks to a 45.5 percent shooting (10-of-22) from the field in the first ten minutes of the second half. WC was held to 5-of-16 shooting from the field (31.3 percent).
Taylor Fricke hit a 3-pointer with nine minutes to go in game as Waldorf tied the game for the fifth time at 46-46, but it was all Lady T's for the rest of the game.
Dakota State used another scoring run – 12-2 run – to earn a double-digit lead at 58-48 with less than five minutes remaining.
Waldorf could get no closer than eight points on three different occasions as the Lady T's secured the victory.
Courtney Hulstein led the Lady T's with 16 points. Little scored 15 points off the bench on her 6-of-9 field goal shooting and made all three free-throw attempts. Olson added 11 points.
Galbraith had eight points and tied her career-high 16 rebounds for Dakota State. She also recorded a career-high eight blocked shots in the game, surpassing Sara Nelson (151 blocks) for fourth most career blocks and tied for third most career blocks with Jessica Honermann (153 blocks) in the Lady T's basketball record book.
Kendra Lindblad grabbed five rebounds for DSU. Madison Walford, Olson, Kennedy Wagner and Little each added four rebounds.
Olson produced five assists for DSU. Galbraith added four assists. Olson stole the ball three times and tied with Patricia Murphy for tenth-most career steals with 173 steals in the DSU Lady T's basketball record book.
Ameh Ogbemudia tallied 18 points for the Warriors. Samantha Birkes added 13 points. Fricke had nine points.
Birkes collected nine rebounds for WC. Fricke and Ogbemudia each had eight rebounds.
Jessica Denholm recorded five steals in the game for Waldorf. Fricke dished out four assists.
Dakota State shot 35.5 percent overall from the field (27-of-76) compared to Waldorf 29.4 percent (20-of-68). Both teams were 4-of-17 from the 3-point arc.
WC went to the free-throw 19 times, making 12 free-throws (63.2 percent). DSU was 6-of-7 free-throws (85.7 percent).
The Lady T's outrebounded the Warriors 52-48 in the game.
DSU outscored WC 40-28 inside the paint and 25-8 in bench points.
Both teams will be meeting for the second time of the season six days later on Jan. 12 in Forest City, Iowa.
Dakota State kicks off their six-game road trip this Saturday, visiting long-time rival and nationally-ranked No. 5 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.). Tip-off from the Corn Palace is set for 4 p.m. in Mitchell, S.D. DWU held on to defeat DSU 65-60 in the first meeting on Nov. 10 at DSU Fieldhouse.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
