January 4, 2019

Photos credit by Karen Giles

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) led as many as 19 points in the third quarter Saturday afternoon at DSU Fieldhouse, holding off Dickinson State's (N.D.) late comeback for an 83-74 North Star Athletic Association women's basketball conference action.  The Lady T's snapped their eight-game losing skid, recording its first win since Nov. 13, 2018.

Dakota State, who earned their first home win of the 2018-19 season, improved to 2-13 overall record and 1-2 record in North Star Athletic Association contests.  Dickinson State fell to 7-11 overall record and remained winless in three league games.

The Lady T's and Blue Hawks battled through four ties and three changes in the first ten minutes of the game.  The high-scoring affair was deadlocked at 24-24 by the end of the first period.  DaSU shot a blazing 58.8 percent from the field (10-of-17), while DiSU was 47.1 percent (8-of-17 field goals).

Dakota State ignited the offense outburst in the second quarter, using a 15-0 surge to break the 26-26 tie into a 41-26 lead with 3:46 on the clock.  The Lady T's, who had four different players (Ashlyn Macdonald, Alexis Evans, Jessi Giles and Olivia Breske) scored during the outburst, held the Blue Hawks scoreless for nearly six minutes in the scoring run. 

Dickinson State answered back by scoring eight straight points from four different scorers (Brook Janz, Lacey Waid, Ashlie Larson and Danielle Wallace) to cut Dakota State's lead down to seven points at 41-34 with 1:17 left before halftime.

A 3-pointer by Giles ballooned Lady T's lead to 47-36 by halftime.  Dakota State outscored Dickinson State 23-12 in the second quarter.

DaSU shot a sizzling 57.1 percent from the field (20-of-35), including 7-of-15 from the 3-point arc in the first-half.  DiSU was held to 37.1 percent field goal shooting (13-of-35) and 4-of-13 3-pointers.

The Lady T's maintained their double-digit lead in the third quarter.  Cora Peterson nailed down a pair of free-throws to give Dakota State its biggest lead of the game at 65-46 with 5:42 left in the third.

With DaSU leading 67-48, DiSU closed the third period with a 9-2 run in the final 3:22 to trim their deficit down to 69-57. 

Cassie Hand drained a 3-pointer to widen DaSU's lead to 72-57 to kick off the fourth quarter. 

At 74-60 (DaSU leading), the Blue Hawks went on a 10-0 scoring tear to get closer by four points at 74-70 after a basket by Larson with 3:33 remaining.

The Lady T's never looked back as they held the lead for the rest of the game, outscoring the Blue Hawks 9-4 in the final 2:52 of the game.

DiSU outscored DaSU 17-14 in the final period.

Giles paced the Lady T's with 22 points.  Evans added 14 points (7-of-9 field goals) and collected eight rebounds.  She had two blocks.  Ashlyn Macdonald posted her second double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Hand tallied 10 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench for Dakota State.  Alexis Robson scored nine points and dished out a season-high eight assists.

Larson shot 10-of-17 from the field and converted 1-of-2 free-throw to score 25 points for the Blue Hawks.  Rojin Karahan added 11 rebounds.  Wallace had 10 points.  Anna Jofresa produced six assists. 

Larson and Karahan each stole the ball four times for Dickinson State.  Celeste Pantoja had seven rebounds. 

Dakota State shot 47.6 percent overall from the field (30-of-63) and drained a season-high 12 3-pointers in 32 attempts (37.5 percent).  Dickinson State was held to 37.8 percent overall from the field (28-of-74) and 9-of-30 from the 3-point line (30 percent).

The Lady T's outrebounded the Blue Hawks 51-36, a season high rebounds for Dakota State.  DaSU outscored DiSU 25-13 in second-chance points and 23-18 in bench points.

The Blue Hawks outscored the Lady T's 20-6 in points off turnovers.

Dakota State heads on the road for three straight game next week.  The Lady T's visit the nationally-ranked No. 8 Morningside (Iowa) in a non-conference action on Wednesday evening.  Tip-off from the RVSC-Allee Gym is set for 7 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa. 

Dickinson State returns home to kick off their four-game North Star conference action at Scott Gymnasium, starting on Friday versus Waldorf (Iowa) at 6:30 p.m. (Central Time)/5:30 p.m. (Mountain Time). 

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director