February 26, 2020

PHOTO GALLERY - Photos credits by Cody Welu, Donald Weidler and Karen Giles

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) captured a quarterfinal win and punched their ticket to the North Star Athletic Association Final Four tournament in Watertown, S.D. after defeating the Dickinson State (N.D.) Blue Hawks at DSU Fieldhouse Wednesday evening.  The Trojans ended the Blue Hawks' season with a final score of 94-62. 

Dakota State, No. 3 in the NSAA conference postseason tournament, is now 17-13 overall.  The Trojans had won 11 times in the last 12 games.  It was the first time since the 2013-14 season that DaSU hosted the North Star women's basketball postseason game.

The sixth-seeded Blue Hawks finished with an overall record of 8-20 with a five-game losing streak.  Dakota State won their seventh straight meeting with Dickinson State in the series meeting.

Dakota State will head to Watertown Civic Arena for the NSAA Final Four tournament this weekend.  The Trojans are scheduled to face second-seeded (No. 19-ranked) Mayville State (N.D.), who defeated No. 7 seed Waldorf (Iowa) 74-55 Wednesday evening, in the second semifinal at 3 p.m.

The first semifinal match-up features top-seeded Bellevue (Neb.) taking on fifth-seeded Viterbo (Wis.) at 1 p.m.  The V-Hawks were the lone team that recorded an upset in the quarterfinal round, defeating at No. 4 seed Valley City State (N.D.) 85-66 on Wednesday evening.

The NSAA Tournament championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Watertown Civic Arena.

Dakota State (S.D.) 94, Dickinson State (N.D.) 62 - FINAL

• Dakota State made its first four shots of the game to gain a 9-5 lead (with first seven points of the game from Morgan Koepsell), forcing Dickinson State to burn their first timeout of the game with seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds left on the clock.  The Blue Hawks had a 5-4 lead and held it for less than a minute before the Trojans took control for the rest of the game.
• Leading 14-11, DaSU used a 10-2 closing run in the final 3:20 to grab a 24-13 lead.  Lindsey Vogl capped the scoring run with a 3-pointer with less than 50 seconds left in the first period. 
• The Trojans shot 10-of-17 from the field (58.8 percent) in the first ten minutes of the game and held the Blue Hawks to 5-of-18 field goals (27.8 percent). 
• Dakota State maintained their double-digit lead for the rest of the game.  Dickinson State could get no closer than 10 points at 35-25 after a basket by Danielle Wallace with 2:21 left in the second period.
• Savannah Walsdorf converted a pair of free-throws to extend DaSU's lead to 40-25 by halftime.
• The Trojans shot a blazing 50 percent from the field in the first half (15-of-30 field goals).  The Blue Hawks were limited to 28.6 percent (10-of-35 field goals).
• Dakota State led as many as 23 points in the early third quarter after a basket by Jessi Giles to balloon their lead to 54-31 with 5:33 on the clock. 
• With the Trojans leading 61-41, the Blue Hawks closed the third period with a 6-0 run to cut DaSU's lead to 61-47.  DiSU outscored DaSU 22-21 in the third quarter.
• Dakota State stormed past Dickinson State in the fourth period, outscoring 33-15 to secure the victory.
• The Trojans shot 20-of-37 from the field (54.1 percent) in the second half compared to the Blue Haws 43.3 percent (13-of-30 field goals).
• Four DSU players scored in double digits, led by Koepsell with 18 points (8-of-17 field goals).  She also grabbed six rebounds.  Fick and Vogl each tallied 13 points.  Walsdorf posted a double-double of 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.   Cheylee Nagel scored nine points off the bench.
• Ashlyn McDonald achieved five assists of the Trojans' 20 total assists.  Walsdorf, Fick, Courtney Menning, Shaylee DeBeer, Riley Peters and Nagel each dished out two assists.
• Ashlie Larson led Dickinson State with 15 points.  Larson and Natalee Hafer each produced three assists.  Sydney Clark and Shali Sheridan each scored 10 points.
• Dakota Dosch stole the ball four times for the Blue Hawks.  Danielle Wallace collected 10 rebounds.
• Dakota State was 35-for-67 overall from the field (52.2 percent) compared to Dickinson State 23-for-65 (35.48 percent).  The Trojans hit 11-of-27 3-pointers (40.7 percent), while the Blue Hawks were 7-of-32 3-pointers (21.9 percent).
• Dakota State converted 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line.  Dickinson State was 9-for-13 free-throws (69.2 percent)
• The Trojans outrebounded the Blue Hawks 45-35.
• DaSU outscored DiSU 19-10 in points off turnovers, 46-18 inside the paint, and 44-19 in bench points.

Madelyn Shockey, DSU Sports Writer
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director