December 12, 2018
Photos credit by Karen Giles
MITCHELL, S.D. – NAIA Division II women's basketball top-ranked Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) used a fast start early in the game and never trailed in the game Wednesday evening, cruising past Dakota State (S.D.) 93-63 in a non-conference action at the Corn Palace.
Dakota State fell to 1-9 overall record. Dakota Wesleyan remained undefeated with 13-0 overall record.
The Tigers scored five points in the first minute of the game for a 5-0 lead. DWU went on to outscored DSU 32-14 in the first ten minutes.
Dakota Wesleyan only missed five shots in the first period, converging 12-of-17 field goals (70.6 percent). Dakota State was 5-of-12 from the field (41.7 percent).
DWU kicked off the second quarter with an 8-0 run to balloon their lead to 40-14 with less than seven minutes left. Cassie Hand ended the scoring drought with a basket with 6:29 remaining in the first half (DSU trailed 40-16).
Dakota Wesleyan shot a sizzling 63.6 percent from the field (21-of-33) to grab a 53-29 halftime lead over Dakota State. The Lady T's were 10-of-24 from the field in the first-half (41.7 percent).
Jessi Giles, McKenzie Hermanson and Alexis Robson each drained a 3-pointer as part of DSU's 9-2 scoring run to trim DWU's lead to 55-38 with 6:01 left in the third.
The Lady T's outscored the Tigers 17-14 in the third quarter. DWU held a 67-46 lead after three quarters.
The Tigers maintained their double-digit lead for the rest of the game, outscoring the Lady T's 26-17 in the final quarter.
Ten different Lady T players scored in the game, paced by Robson with 10 points (4-of-6 field goals). Olivia Breske scored nine points off the bench after making all three 3-point field goals. Evans and Hand each added eight points. Giles had seven points.
Evans pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for DSU. Ashlyn Macdonald dished out three assists. Raven Patton registered two blocks.
Five DWU players scored in double digits, led by Kynedi Cheeseman with 20 points. Makaela Karst added 19 points and eight rebounds. Sydney Halling scored 15 points off the bench. Rylie Osthus and Sarah Carr each tallied 13 points. Osthus had a game-high eight assists and stole the ball three times.
Dakota Wesleyan shot 52.9 percent overall from the field (36-of-68) compared to Dakota State 42.6 percent (20-of-47). The Lady T's hit 11 3-pointers in 20 attempts (55 percent), while the Tigers were 6-of-19 3-poitners (31.6 percent).
DWU made 15-of-20 free-throws (75 percent). DSU was 12-of-15 from the free-throw line (80 percent).
The Tigers outrebounded the Lady T's 33-22. DSU outscored DWU 26-23 in bench points.
Dakota State continues their non-conference action Monday evening, visiting their former Dakota Athletic Conference and North Star Athletic Association conference foe Jamestown (N.D.). Tip-off from the Newman Arena is set for 6 p.m. in Jamestown, N.D.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
