December 17, 2017

MADISON, S.D. – Knotted 44-44 at halftime, the No. 23-ranked Mayville State (N.D.) escaped Dakota State's (S.D.) upset bid with a high second-half outburst for a 100-87 North Star Athletic Association Women's Basketball conference contest Sunday afternoon at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Comets outscored the Lady T's 56-43 in the final twenty minutes of the game.

Dakota State dropped their overall record to 5-10 and 2-2 record in the North Star conference (two-way tie for fourth-place with Bellevue, Neb. in the North Star conference standings).  Mayville State lifted their overall record to 10-3 and 3-2 record in league play (third place in the league standings).

The Lady T's went 3-of-5 from the field to open up the game with a 9-2 lead with 6 minutes, 1 second on the clock (Raven Patton scored the first four points for DSU, followed by a 3-pointer by Lindsey Vogl and a basket by Britley Plautz).  The Comets, who went 1-for-8 from the field in that stretch, was forced to burn their first timeout of the game.

After the timeout, MSU answered with an 11-0 outburst to overtake a 16-9 lead with 3:22 on the clock after a 3-point play by Taylor Shamp.  Vogl ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer as the Lady T's trailed at 16-12 with less than three minutes to go in the first period.

Joelle Ertl drained a 3-pointer to extend Mayville State's lead to 28-18 by the end of the first quarter.  The Comets were 11-of-23 from the field in the first quarter (47.8 percent), while the Lady T's were 7-of-14 field goals (50 percent).

After DSU made two straight baskets to kick off the second quarter (MSU led 28-22), the Comets recorded the biggest lead of the first-half at 39-27 after a basket by Andi Gayner with 7:18 on the clock.

The Lady T's used a 10-0 run – including a pair of 3-pointers by Vogl and Cassie Hand – to trim MSU's lead to 39-37 with 2:44 remaining in the second.

Trailing 44-37, DSU closed the second quarter with a 7-0 run in the final 1:11 to knot the game at 44-44.  The Lady T's shot a blazing 54.8 percent from the field in the first-half (17-of-31 field goals) compared to the Comets' 37.8 field goal percentage (17-of-45 field goals).

Dakota State and Mayville State went through five ties and four lead changes in the third period.  The Comets held on to a 69-63 lead by the end of the third.

MSU earned the biggest lead of the game at 87-68 with less than six minutes to go in the game, thanks to their 18-5 fourth-quarter opening outburst. 

DSU could get no closer than 10 points on three different occasions 89-79 with 2:26 to go, 91-81 with 1:42 remaining and 93-83 with 1:03 left.  MSU secured the victory by making 7-of-8 free-throws in the final 1:34 of the game (4-of-4 free-throws by Blascziek and 3-of-4 free-throws by Naomi Torgerson).

The Comets outscored the Lady T's 31-24 in the fourth period.

Vogl poured in a career-high 31 points for Dakota State.  She was 8-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-12 from the 3-point arc and converted 10-of-11 free-throws.  Plautz produced a double-double of 17 points (7-of-8 field goals and 3-of-4 free-throws) and pulled down 14 rebounds.

Wagner added 17 points for DSU.  She was 4-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.  She also dished out a game-high seven assists.  Patton scored eight points and collected 12 boards.  Cassie Jones tallied seven points. 

Plautz registered four blocked shots in the game for the Lady T's.  Patton, Jones and Wagner also added a block.

Gayner led Mayville State with a game-high 34 points on her 12-of-20 field goals shooting.  She was 5-of-9 from the 3-point line and converted 5-of-8 free-throws.  Torgerson tallied 18 points.  Blascziek scored 13 points.  Ertl had 11 points off the bench.

Gayner earned five rebounds for the Comets.  Kylee Heuring and Andrea Skillingstand each had four rebounds.  Karleigh recorded two blocks and dished out five assists. 

Sydney Gangl and Weber each stole the ball three times for MSU.  Blascziek, Torgerson, Katie Berge and Heurung each had two steals.

Dakota State shot the ball well in the game, shooting 49.1 percent from the field (26-of-53 field goals).  Mayville State was 43 percent from the field (34-of-79 field goals).  The Comets were 14-of-34 from the 3-point line (41.2 percent) while the Lady T's were 7-of-22 3-pointers (31.8 percent).

DSU went to the free-throw line 33 times, making 28 free-throws (84.8 percent).  MSU was 18-of-22 free-throws (81.8 percent).

The Lady T's outrebounded the Comets 50-27 in the game. 

Dakota State committed 29 turnovers – with 17 steals coming from the Comets – compared to Mayville State 6 turnovers.  The Comets outscored the Lady T's 32-2 in points off turnovers.

Dakota State continues their nine-game regular-season home stand Wednesday evening as they face another NAIA's nationally-ranked team.  The Lady T's host their long-time rival No. 9-ranked Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in a non-conference game.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.

Mayville State will take a week off for Christmas and return back to action next week as they play in the Briar Cliff (Iowa) Holiday Classic against a pair of Great Plains Athletic Conference opponents.  The Comets face No. 6 Morningside (Iowa) in the battle of NAIA's Top 25 teams on Dec. 29 (Friday).  The game is set to tip off at 1 p.m. at Newman Flangaan Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director