December 30, 2019

BABSON PARK, Fla. – Dakota State (S.D.) erased an 11-point deficit by the end of the third quarter Monday afternoon, outscoring host-team Webber International 23-6 for a 66-60 non-conference women's basketball victory at Sabbagh Athletic Center.  The Trojans trailed as many as 14 points in the game and held the Warriors to 14.3 percent field goal shooting in the final ten minutes of the game.

Dakota State won their second straight game, improving their overall record to 4-9.  Webber International, a member of The Sun Conference, fell to 7-8 overall record.

The Trojans look to extend their winning streak Tuesday, visiting another The Sun Conference foe.  DSU visits Warner (Fla.) with a tip-off starting at 12 p.m. (Eastern Time)/11 a.m. (Central Time) at Turner Athletic Center in Lake Wales, Fla.

Dakota State (S.D.) 66, Webber International (Fla.) 60 – FINAL

• Dakota State and Webber International battled back and forth in the first quarter with two ties and two lead changes.  With the Trojans leading 11-10, the Warriors used a 6-0 scoring run (by three different scorers—Raygene Garner, Taniya Patrick and Amaya Lasley) in the final 1:06 to take a 16-11 lead.
• WIU shot 7-of-20 from the field (35 percent) in the first ten minutes of the game.  DSU was held to 29.4 percent from the field (5-of-17 field goals).
• The Warriors continued its scoring run to kick off the second quarter by scoring nine straight points to balloon its biggest lead of the game at 25-11 with less than eight minutes left on the clock (back-to-back baskets by Leandra Franklin).
• Ashlyn Macdonald ended Trojans' scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 7:48 to go before halftime (DSU trailed 25-14).
• Down 33-20, Dakota State closed the second period with a 5-0 run.  Macdonald made a field goal with 2:48 to go.  Lindsey Vogl hit a 3-pointer with 1:50 left to cut the Warriors' lead to 33-25.
• Webber International outscored DSU 17-14 in the second quarter.
• DSU was 11-of-33 from the field (33.3 percent) in the first-half compared to WIU 32.4 percent (12-of-37 field goals.  The Warriors converted 6-of-9 free-throws, while the Trojans missed all three free-throw attempts.
• The third quarter saw a see-saw battle, with the Warriors ballooning their lead to nine points before the Trojans rallied back to cut WIU's lead to 40-39 after a basket by Morgan Koepsell with 5:54 left.
• Webber International answered with an 8-0 scoring run to widen their lead to 48-39 with 4:43 remaining in the third period.
• A 3-pointer by Samantha Pacheco gave WIU its 54-43 lead by the end of the third quarter.  The Warriors outscored the Trojans 21-18 in the first ten minutes of the second-half, despite shooting 36.8 percent from the field (7-of-19 field goals).  DSU shot a sizzling 53.3 percent in the third quarter (8-of-15 field goals).
• Dakota State used four different scorers to spark the fourth quarter with a 9-0 scoring run.  Macdonald kicked off the scoring outburst with a pair of three-throws, followed by a 3-pointer by Vogl, a pair of free-throws by Jessi Giles and a free-throw by Koepsell.  The Trojans trimmed WIU's lead to 54-51 with 6:18 left in the game.
• The Trojans trailed 60-55 and began a furious comeback by holding the Warriors to no points in the final 4:16 of the game.  A basket by Lexi Robson followed by a 3-pointer by Giles helped the Trojans tie the game at 60-60 with 1:31 to go.
• Robson nailed down a fast-break lay-up as Dakota State regained their lead to 62-60 with 1:01 remaining, their first lead since 3:02 of the first quarter (11-10).
• The Warriors failed to convert a scoring opportunity after missing a 3-point shot and committed a turnover with a steal by DSU's Robson.  WIU fouled Robson with less than 40 seconds to go.  Robson made both free-throws to put Dakota State up 64-60.
• Webber International missed another 3-point shot on the following possession and was rebounded by DSU's Robson.  The Warriors committed a foul on Robson, while she added a pair of free-throws to secure the victory for the Trojans.
• Dakota State shot 5-of-13 from the field (38.5 percent) in the final quarter.  The Trojans, however, made 11-of-14 free-throws in the final ten minutes of the game.  Webber International was held to 3-of-21 from the field, 0-of-9 from the 3-point arc and 0-of-1 free-throw.
• DSU outscored WIU 41-27 in the final twenty minutes of the game, thanks to 46.4 percent shooting from the field (13-of-28 field goals).  The Warriors were held to 25 percent field goal shooting (10-of-40 field goals).
• Koepsell led the Trojans with a double-double of 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds (season-high).  Macdonald added nine points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds.  She also dished out a game-high six assists and stole the ball twice.
• Vogl scored nine points off the bench for DSU.  Robson added eight points and two assists.  Giles had seven points, four rebounds and dished out four assists.  Savannah Walsdorf earned seven rebounds.  Lex Evans tallied six points.
• Franklin scored 14 points for the Warriors.  She also had five steals, four steals and four rebounds.  Eletra Graham added 13 points off the bench.  Paris Copeland registered nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.
• Patrick recorded a game-high seven blocked shots for WIU.  She also had eight points. 
• Dakota State shot 39.3 percent overall from the field (24-of-61 field goals) compared to Webber International 28.6 percent (22-of-77 field goals).  Both teams made seven 3-pointers.
• The Trojans hit 11-of-17 from the free-throw line (64.7 percent).  The Warriors struggled from the free-throw line, making 9-of-18 free-throws (50 percent).
• DSU collected a season-high 56 rebounds in the game compared to WIU 43 rebounds. 

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director