January 4, 2019
Photos credit by Karen Giles
MADISON, S.D. – Deadlocked at 74-74 with 7.7 seconds left in the game, Dakota State (S.D.) committed a turnover and was fouled and gave Presentation (S.D.) three made free-throws in the final 3.1 seconds of the game for a hard-fought 77-74 North Star Athletic Association women's basketball conference action at DSU Fieldhouse Friday evening.
Dakota State, despite a season-high 33 points by Jessi Giles, dropped their eighth straight game. The Lady T's fell to 1-13 overall record and 0-2 in league play. Presentation lifted their overall record to 6-9 and 2-0 record in NSAA contests.
Both teams battled through three ties and five lead changes through the first six-plus minutes of the game. Holding on a slim one-point lead at 17-16, the Lady T's shut down the Saints 8-0 in the final 2:21 to widen their lead to 25-18 by the end of the first period.
DSU shot 8-of-14 from the field in the first ten minutes of the game (57.1 percent) while PC was 8-of-19 field goals (42.1 percent).
The Lady T's extended their scoring run to 11-0 to kick off the second quarter after a 3-pointer by McKenzie Hermanson, producing the largest lead of the game at 28-16 with 9:08 on the clock.
Josie Clemens answered with back-to-back 3-pointers as Saints trimmed Lady T's lead to 28-22 with 8:01 left in the second. DSU maintained their lead between six- and nine-points for the majority of the second period.
Down 34-28, Presentation nailed down a pair of 3-pointer by Clemens and Allison Cox to knot the game at 34-34 with 1:20 left before halftime.
Raven Patton hit a pair of free-throws to give Lady T's a 36-34 halftime advantage.
Tied at 38-38, the Saints stormed with a 9-0 scoring run – thanks to seven straight points from Cox – to open up a 47-38 lead with 6:46 on the clock in the third period.
Dakota State answered back with an 10-2 scoring run to cut Presentation's lead within one point at 49-48 with 4:22 left on the clock in the third.
The Lady T's closed the third quarter with a 6-0 run – with three points each by Hermanson and Giles – to grab a 59-56 lead. DSU was 8-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-8 from the 3-point line in the third quarter. PC was held to 6-of-14 field goals (42.9 percent) and was 9-of-9 at the free-throw line.
Dakota State expanded their lead to six points on two different occasions – 63-57 after a 3-pointer by Hermanson with 8:08 left and 66-60 after a 3-point play by Giles with 7:36 remaining.
Cox would score the next eight points as the Saints regained their lead to 68-66 with less than five minutes remaining.
Each team tied or traded lead in the final 3:35 of the game. Trailing by one at 69-68, Alexis Robson made a lay-up to give DSU a 70-69 advantage with 2:20 remaining.
Giles made both free-throw to extend Lady T's lead to 72-69 with 2:01 left.
Cox added a free-throw and Victoria Stewart made both free-throws as PC rallied back to tie the game at 72-72 with less than 22 seconds left.
On the next possession, Giles converted both free-throws to give DSU a 74-72 lead with less than 20 seconds to go.
Coming off from the timeout, the 3-point shot by PC's Clemens was blocked by DSU's Ashlyn Macdonald but Cox rebounded the ball and drove in for the lay-up to tie the game for the 10th time at 74-74. The Lady T's called a timeout with 7.7 seconds on the clock.
DSU committed a turnover with 3.1 seconds left, regaining the possession for PC. Clemens made both free-throws followed by a free-throw by Karly Sanchez to secure the victory for the Saints.
Presentation outscored Dakota State 21-15 in the fourth quarter. The Saints were 21-of-27 from the free-throw line in the second-half while the Lady T's were 9-of-12 free-throws.
The game featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes by both teams.
DSU's Giles poured in a season-high 33 points in the game. She was tied for third in single-game points with a pair of former NAIA All-Americans Dawn Gaffney (vs. Mount Marty, S.D. on Feb. 25, 1997) and Kathy Shypulski (vs. South Dakota Ttech on Feb. 9, 2001). Giles was 10-of-17 from the field, 4-of-9 from the 3-point line and made 9-of-13 free-throws.
Hermanson added 13 points for the Lady T's. Alexis Evans had seven points and pulled down eight rebounds. Macdonald had six points, five assists and grabbed nine rebounds. Robson had six points, six rebounds and four assists. Macdonald and Kelley Criddle each registered two blocks.
Cox posted a double-double with 28 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Saints. She also recorded four steals. She was 8-of-21 from the field and 11-of-15 at the free-throw line. Clemens added 11 points and stole the ball five times. Jada Campbell grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench.
Both teams struggled from the field with the Lady T's shooting 39.3 percent overall (22-of-56). The Saints were 34.8 percent from the field (24-of-69).
DSU drained 11 3-pointers in the game in 27 attempts (40.7 percent) compared to PC 6-of-20 3-pointers (30 percent).
The Saints were 23-of-32 free-throws (71.9 percent) while the Lady T's were 19-of-29 free-throws (65.5 percent).
Dakota State had a slim rebounding advantage over Presentation (45-44), but the Saints outrebounded the Lady T"s 16-11 on the offensive boards. PC outscored DSU 16-5 in second-chance points and 30-20 inside the paint.
Dakota State looks to halt their losing skid Saturday afternoon as they continue their North Star conference action. The Lady T's host Dickinson State (N.D.), with both teams seeking for the first conference win of the season. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.
Presentation stays on the road as they visit Bellevue (Neb.) in the North Star conference action Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The game is set to play at Gordon Lozier Center in Bellevue. PC, BU and Waldorf (Iowa) are currently in a three-way tie for first in the conference standings.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
