February 19, 2019

Photos credit by Karen Giles

BELLEVUE, Neb. – Seventh-seeded Dakota State (S.D.) trailed just four points at 52-48 to second-seeded Bellevue (Neb.) at Gordon Lozier Center Tuesday in the opening round of the North Star Athletic Association Women's Basketball Postseason Tournament.  The Bruins closed the game with a 13-1 run in the final 3:33 of the game, pulling away for a 65-49 victory over the Lady T's.

Both teams met for the second time in three days, where BU cruised past DSU 83-45 on Feb. 16 in Bellevue.

Dakota State and Bellevue battled through six ties in the opening period before the Lady T's opened up with a six-point lead.  Leading 16-15, Ashlyn Macdonald drained a 3-pointer while Jessi Giles added a field goal to give DSU a 21-15 lead with less than 25 seconds to go in the first quarter.

Jamie Winkler nailed down a pair of free-throws as BU trimmed DSU's lead to 21-17 by the end of the first period.  The Lady T's shot 8-of-14 from the field (57.1 percent) in the first ten minutes of the game, including 3-of-6 from the 3-point line.  The Bruins were 6-of-15 field goals (40 percent) and 1-of-3 from the 3-point arc.

Shayla Dean hit a 3-pointer as Bellevue earned its first lead of the game at 25-23 with 7:10 on the clock in the second quarter. 

The Bruins went 8-of-15 from the field in the second period and outscored the Lady T's 21-9 to earn a 38-30 halftime advantage.  The Lady T's were held to 3-of-12 from the field.

Bellevue opened up the second-half with a 5-1 run to earn the first double-digit lead of the game at 43-31 after a 3-pointer by Dean with 8:14 on the clock.

Both teams struggled offensively as the Lady T's shut down the Bruins for seven-plus minutes, using a 10-0 run to trail by two points at 43-41 after McKenzie Hermanson made all three free-throw attempts.

Laura Jurek made a free-throw to extend BU's lead to 44-41 by the end of the third quarter.  DSU outscored BU 11-6 in the first ten minutes of the second-half.  Both teams were 2-of-14 from the field in the third period.  The Lady T's were 6-of-9 from the free-throw line compared to the Bruins 1-of-4 at the free-throw line.

BU kicked off the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to widen their lead to 50-41 after a field goal by Morgan Cuffe with 7:13 remaining.

Trailing 52-43, Taylor Volesky made a basket while Macdonald added a 3-pointer to spark DSU's 5-0 run to cut BU's lead to 52-48 with 3:51 left.

Bellevue converted 7-of-8 free-throws in the final 3:33 and held Dakota State to one point to secure the victory.

The Bruins outscored the Lady T's 21-8 in the last ten minutes of the game.  Bellevue was 6-of-12 from the field and 9-of-15 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.  DSU was held to 3-of-11 field goals and 1-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Macdonald scored a career-high 14 points for Dakota State.  She was 5-of-10 from the field and went 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.  Giles added 12 points.  Volesky tallied eight points.  Alexis Robnson scored five points.

Volesky grabbed nine rebounds for the Lady T's.  Kelley Criddle and Macdonald each added six rebounds.  Robson dished out three assists and stole the ball twice.  Hermanson registered two steals. 

Elexis Martinez posted a double-double of 16 points and collected 13 rebounds for Bellevue.  She was 6-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 free-throws.  Cuffe, Dean and Winkler each added 12 points.  Winkler contributed a game-high seven assists.  Dean stole the ball four times and pulled down six rebounds.  Cuffe had two blocked shots.

Both teams struggled from the field, shooting below 40 percent.  Bellevue was 39.3 percent overall from the field (22-of-56), where they shot 30.8 percent in the second-half (8-of-26).  Dakota State recorded a field goal percentage of 31.4 percent (16-of-51) and shot 5-of-25 (20 percent) in the final twenty minutes of the game.

The Lady T's were 6-of-23 from the 3-point line (26.1 percent) compared to the Bruins 5-of-19 3-pointers (26.3 percent).  BU converted 16-of-29 free-throws (55.2 percent).  DSU was 11-of-21 from the free-throw line (52.4 percent).

Dakota State outrebounded Bellevue 42-40 in the game.

DSU finished its 2018-19 season with an overall record of 4-25.  It was the final career collegiate basketball game for Criddle.

Bellevue, receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, lifted their overall record to 21-9.  The Bruins move on to face No. 3 seed Valley City State (N.D.) in the semifinal round on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director