January 19, 2019
PHOTO GALLERY - Photos credit by Cody Welu
MADISON, S.D. – After a sluggish start in the first-half in the North Star Athletic Association women's basketball conference action at DSU Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, Dakota State (S.D.) outscored Viterbo (Wis.) 26-10 after shooting a blazing 75 percent in the third quarter and held on to an 80-68 victory. The Lady T's remained undefeated in the all-time NSAA conference meetings (6-0 record) with the V-Hawks, extending their winning streak to seven games in the all-time series meeting.
Dakota State improved their overall record to 3-16 and 2-4 record in league play. Viterbo lost their seventh straight game, falling to 7-13 overall record and remained winless in seven games.
DSU and VU battled back and forth in the first ten minutes of the game with five ties and one lead change. The game was knotted at 17-17 by the end of the first period.
A 3-pointer by Jessi Giles gave the Lady T's a 25-22 lead with 7:22 to go in the second quarter before the V-Hawks went on a scoring run. VU went on to score eight straight points from four different scorers – Payton Curry, Madison Doerr, Ambree Schlosser and Alyssa NIlssen – to earn a 30-25 lead with less than four minutes to go before intermission.
Dakota State closed the first-half with an 8-2 run in the last 2:42, regaining their lead to 33-32 after a pair of free-throws by Taylor Volesky.
Both teams struggled shooting from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game. Viterbo shot 30.2 percent (13-of-43 field goals) compared to Dakota State 30 percent (9-of-30).
The Lady T's kicked off the third quarter with a 9-0 run to earn the first double-digit lead of the game at 42-32 after a basket by Alexis Robson. DSU was 4-of-5 from the field, while the VU missed six shots in the first three-plus minutes of the third quarter.
V-Hawk Schlosser went on to score the next five points to cut DSU's lead down to 42-37 with 5:38 in the third. From there, the Lady T's held VU scoreless for four-plus minutes to create a 14-0 monstrous run to earn a 56-37 lead with 1:17 on the clock (after a 3-pointer by Ashlyn Macdonald).
McKenzie Hermanson drained a 3-pointer to give Dakota State its biggest lead of the game at 59-39 with less than 40 seconds to go in the third.
Schlosser scored the final three points of the third quarter for the V-Hawks, as the Lady T's held a 59-42 lead. DSU was 9-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-6 from the 3-point arc. VU was held to 21.1 field goal percentage in the first ten minutes of the second-half.
With DSU leading 64-47, the V-Hawks went on a 9-0 scoring tear to cut the Lady T's lead to 64-56 with less than five minutes to go in the game.
Viterbo could get no closer than eight points for the rest of the game. Dakota State secured the game by going 11-of-14 from the free-throw line (free-throws by Taylor Volesky, Giles, Cassie Hand and Madison Norris) in the final 2:17.
The V-Hawks outscored the Lady T's 26-21 in the final quarter.
Giles poured in a game-high 23 points on her 7-of-11 field goal shooting for Dakota State. She was 5-of-7 from the 3-point line and 4-of-8 from the free-throw line. She stole the ball three times. Volesky produced a double-double of 17 points and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds. She registered three blocks. Robson tallied 10 points.
Macdonald scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists for DSU. Hand had six rebounds and three assists. Kelley Criddle recorded six points, five rebounds and two blocks. Alexis Evans had two blocks.
Nilssen produced a double-double of 17 points and collected 17 rebounds for Viterbo. She also had two blocks. Schlosser added 14 points and five rebounds. Madessa Collins had nine points and eight rebounds.
Nilssen, Schlosser and Cassidy Leikam each stole the ball three times for the V-Hawks. Collins, Schlosser and Brynn Bozich each contributed two assists.
Dakota State was 22-of-52 from the field (42.3 percent) and drained eight 3-pointers in 22 attempts. Viterbo took 91 shots in the game and made 26 baskets (28.6 percent). The V-Hawks were 6-of-38 from the 3-point line (15.8 percent), with 1-of-20 3-pointers coming in the second-half.
DSU converted 28-of-37 free-throws (75.7 percent) compared to VU 10-of-21 free-throws (47.6 percent).
The Lady T's collected a season-high 56 rebounds (11 offensive). The V-Hawks recorded 48 rebounds (24 offensive). DSU outscored VU 15-8 in second-chance points.
Dakota State wraps up their North Star's first-half conference portion of the schedule Sunday afternoon. The Lady T's host Waldorf (Iowa) with a tip-off at 1 p.m.
Viterbo faces Dakota State again on Friday at R.W. Beggs Gymnasium in La Crosse, Wis. The game is set for 5:30 p.m.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
