February 17, 2017

BELLEVUE, Neb. – Kennedy Wagner became the 20th Dakota State (S.D.) Lady T's basketball player to surpass the 1,000-point milestone Saturday afternoon at Gordon Lozier Athletic Center, despite falling short to Bellevue (Neb.) by the score of 74-71 in the North Star Athletic Association conference regular-season finale.  The Lady T's held a six-point lead after the third quarter, but the Bruins used an 18-9 fourth-quarter surge to earn the victory.

Dakota State dropped their overall record to 12-18 overall record and 8-8 record in the North Star conference play.  The Lady T's finished in a two-way tie with Presentation (S.D.) in the conference standings.  Bellevue is 18-12 overall record with a third-place finish in the league with 11-5 record.

The Bruins scored the first eight points of the game to earn an 8-0 lead with seven minutes, twenty-seven seconds on the clock.  The Lady T's ended their scoring drought with a basket by Cassie Jones with 7:05 left in the opening period (DSU trailed 8-2).

BU gained their first double-digit lead of the game at 16-6 with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter, forcing DSU to burn one of their timeouts.

Bellevue led 27-16 after the first-quarter, thanks to their blazing 63.2 percent from the field (12-of-19 field goals) and forced DSU into six turnovers (BU scored 10 points off on DSU's six turnovers).  The Lady T's were 6-of-12 from the field (50 percent).

Trailing 31-21, Dakota State stormed back by scoring eight straight points – including a basket by Britley Plautz and six straight points from Wagner – to trim BU's lead to two points at 31-29 with 5:25 left in the first-half.

Plautz made a lay-up with three minutes to go in the second quarter, giving DSU its first lead of the game at 35-34. 

The Lady T's outscored the Bruins 24-12 in the second period to gain a 40-39 halftime advantage.  Dakota State was 13-of-27 from the field (48.1 percent), including 4-of-5 from the 3-point line in the first twenty minutes.  DSU was also 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.  Bellevue was 15-of-30 field goals (50 percent), 1-of-3 3-pointers and 8-of-16 free-throws in the first-half.

Dakota State stretched their lead as many as eight points in the early third quarter (52-44 with 6:22 left after a basket by Jones). 

Wagner hit her 1,000-point milestone with less than four minutes left in the third period after a 3-point play to give DSU a 54-48 lead.

She made a field goal with just a few ticks before the end of the third, giving DSU a 62-56 lead.  The Lady T's outscored the Bruins 22-17 in the first ten minutes of the second-half.

DSU expanded their lead to 66-57 before BU mounted a comeback in the final 7:07 of the game.  Bellevue shut down Dakota State in span of six-and-half minutes, scoring 16 straight points to take a 72-66 lead with less than 15 seconds to go in the game.

A bench technical foul was called on Bellevue, as Lindsey Vogl nailed down a pair of free-throws to end DSU's scoreless drought.  The Lady T's trailed 72-68 with 11 seconds to go.

Jones followed up with a 3-pointer as Dakota State trailed at 72-71 with five seconds remaining. 

Beth Walker hit a pair of free-throws with less than four seconds to go, securing the win for Bellevue.

BU was 4-of-11 from the field in the fourth quarter and made 9-of-12 free-throws.  DSU was held to 3-of-12 field goals and converted both free-throw attempts.

Wagner finished with game-highs 24 points and five assists for Dakota State.  She was 6-of-14 from the field and was near perfect at the free-throw line, making 10-of-11 free-throws.  Wagner currently have 1,008 career points at DSU.

Plautz scored 13 points for the Lady T's.  Vogl added 10 points.  Jones tallied seven points.  Cassie Hand and Shelby Vogel each had six points. 

Plautz led DSU with nine rebounds.  Wagner and Jamie Tebben each added four rebounds.  Plautz, Hand and Alexis Evans each registered a block.

Caletria Curtis scored 20 points for Bellevue.  She was 7-of-18 from the field and 6-of-10 free-throws.  Elexis Martinez added 15 points.  Ryleigh McCartney had 13 points.  Morgan Cuffe scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench.

Walker dished out three assists for the Bruins.  Curtis had five steals.  Cuffe added four steals.

Bellevue shot 43.6 percent overall from the field (24-of-55) compared to Dakota State 42.3 percent (22-of-52).  The Lady T's drained 7-of-15 3-pointers, while the Bruins were 3-of-8 from the 3-point line.

Dakota State just missed two free-throws in the game, making 20-of-22 free-throws (90.9 percent).  Bellevue struggled at the free-throw line, converting 23-of-36 free-throws (63.9 percent).

DSU outrebounded BU 37-31 in the game. 

Dakota State heads into the North Star Athletic Association Women's Basketball Conference Postseason Tournament play on Wednesday evening.  The Lady T's won the coin toss for the tiebreaker with Presentation and will be the No. 5 seed.  DSU travels to Lewy Lee Fieldhouse to take on the fourth-seeded Mayville State (N.D.) in the opening round.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Mayville, N.D.

Bellevue stays home for the North Star's opening versus No. 6 seed Presentation.  The game is set for 7 p.m. at Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director