December 17, 2016

Photos credits by Nicholas Hauser

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) pulled away in the fourth quarter by making all 13 free-throw attempts, winning their second straight North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Women's Basketball conference victory over Viterbo (Wis.) 59-48 at DSU Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.  DSU finished the month of December with a 2-0 record at home.

The Lady T's lifted their overall record to 3-10 and 2-4 record in North Star conference play.  Viterbo lost their fourth straight game, dipping their overall record to 2-13 and 1-4 NSAA record.

Dakota State held the V-Hawks scoreless in the first five minutes and twenty-three seconds of the game.  The Lady T's opened up with a 5-0 lead – all points from the free-throw line.  VU ended their scoring drought with a basket by Madison Doerr with 4:37 on the clock in the first quarter (DSU leads 5-2).

Both teams struggled in the first period by going 2-of-13 field goal shooting, where the Lady T's hang on to a 9-5 lead by the end of the quarter.  DSU was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Dakota State kicked off the second quarter by scoring six straight points – four points from Britley Plautz – to widen their lead to 15-5 with 6:25 on the clock. 

Viterbo was held scoreless again for the first 5:26 of the second quarter.  Payton Curry converted a basket to snap VU's scoring drought with 4:34 left before intermission.

BreeAna Olson made a field goal to give the Lady T's their biggest lead of the game at 19-7 with 2:51 remaining in the second period.

VU closed the first-half by scoring seven straight points to trim DSU's lead to 19-14 by halftime.

DSU and VU struggled from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game.  The Lady T's shot 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) compared to the V-Hawks 5-of-28 (17.9 percent) from the field.

Viterbo stretched their scoring run up to 13-0, starting off the third quarter by scoring six consecutive points (from three different scorers) to gain their first lead of the game at 20-19 with 7:45 on the clock.

VU and DSU went through a see-saw battle in the third period, featuring four lead changes and two ties and a lead no more than four points.  The V-Hawks outscored the Lady T's 18-15 in the third period, but Dakota State held on to a slim 34-32 lead.

The Lady T's and V-Hawks continue their see-saw battle in the fourth quarter before pulling away.  After Alyssa Nilssen made a pair of free-throws to put VU up 43-42, the Lady T's surged with a 9-0 run to grab a 51-43 lead with 2:23 remaining.

DSU did not miss a free-throw attempt in the final quarter as they secured the victory, converting 13-of-13 free-throws including 10 consecutive made free-throws in the last 3:50 of the game.

Dakota State outscored Viterbo 25-16 in the four quarter.

Olson poured in a game-high 22 points for the Lady T's.  She was 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.  Her 12 free-throws tied for fifth most single-game free-throws in the DSU Lady T's basketball school record book. 

DSU's Kennedy Wagner tallied 14 points on her 5-of-9 field goals and 4-of-4 free-throws.  Plautz had 9 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.  Shemika Frazier scored five points off the bench.

Kelsey Poppen and Olson each had five rebounds for DSU.  Plautz registered five blocked shots.  Poppen and Olson each added two blocks.

Olson stole the ball five times for Dakota State, increasing her career total to 246 steals (third most in the Lady T's basketball record book).  Cassie Jones and Olson each dished out two assists. 

Riley Budde posted a double-double of 11 points and earned 11 rebounds for the V-Hawks.  Curry scored 10 points off the bench.  Heidi Huebner had nine points. 

Nilssen collected nine rebounds for VU.  She also contributed two assists.  Curry stole the ball two times.

Dakota State shot 35.4 percent overall from the field, making 17-of-48 field goals.  Viterbo was held to 27.4 percent shooting (17-of-62).  The V-Hawks made four 3-pointers in 16 attempts while the Lady T's did not make a 3-pointer in 6 tries.

DSU converted 25-of-30 free-throws (83.3 percent) in the game, with 20-of-22 free-throws coming in the second-half.  VU was 10-of-13 free-throws (76.9 percent).

Viterbo outrebounded Dakota State 41-37. 

Dakota State heads into their Christmas break and won't return back to action with a pair of games against members of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference in the Kansas Wesleyan Classic.  The Lady T's will swing back in action on Dec. 29, facing the host-team Kansas Wesleyan with a 6 p.m. tip-off in Salina, Kan.  DSU will also play McPherson (Kan.) on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. in the classic.

Viterbo returns home Tuesday as they host Saint Ambrose (Iowa) in a non-conference game in La Crosse, Wis.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

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