February 8, 2020

Photos credit by Karen Giles

MAYVILLE, N.D. – The Dakota State (S.D.) Trojans went 2-0 record on the road this weekend, handing the Mayville State (N.D.) Comets their first North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) women's basketball conference loss of the 2019-20 season Saturday afternoon at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. The Trojans raised their NSAA conference record to 8-3 after defeating the conference's leader Comets 84-66.

DSU remained in a tie for second place in the North Star conference standings with Valley City State (N.D.), 1.5 game behind first-place Mayville State.

The Comets were previously 9-0 in NSAA conference play.  MSU is ranked No. 14 nationally in the NAIA Division II women's basketball coaches' Top 25 national poll but fell to 20-3 overall record. 

The Trojans won the battle of red-hot teams in the North Star conference, halting MSU's winning streak at 11 games.  DSU extended their winning streak to eight games, the first time since the 1999-00 season.  Dakota State lifted their overall record to 14-12, tying the most wins since the 2015-16 season. 

The strong, consistent performance from the young Trojan team never let the Comets lead them by more than three points early in the first period. The Trojans, at one point in the fourth quarter, had the largest lead of the game with a 24-point lead t 72-48 with 7:02 remaining in the game.

Dakota State was led by Olivia Breske who scored a career-high 21 points off the bench.  She was 8-of-11 from the field.  Savannah Walsdorf added 19 points.  Jessi Giles had 18 points, while Fick added 16 points.      

Mayville State was paced by Cyan Hale who totaled 20 points. Claire Blascziek also scored 15 points for the Comets.  Kylee Heurung tallied 12 points.

Dakota State returns home next weekend for another round of back-to-back NSAA matchups, hosting Dickinson State (N.D.) on Friday with a tip-off of 5:30 p.m., followed by Valley City State on next Saturday at 3 p.m. as part of Senior Night.

Mayville State heads on the road for a three-game stretch, starting at Viterbo (Wis.) on Friday night and at Waldorf (Iowa) next Saturday.  The Comets will also play a make-up NSAA conference contest at Bellevue (Neb.) on Monday, Feb. 17.

Dakota State (S.D.) 84, (14) Mayville State (N.D.) 66 – FINAL

• Mayville State won the tip-off but turned the ball over 13 seconds into the first possession, allowing Dakota State's Giles to bank a field goal for the first basket of the game (DSU led 2-0).
• Each team traded leads four times in the first quarter before the Trojans took control for the rest of the game, maintaining their lead in double-digits.  DSU led 28-18 after the first quarter and grew their lead to 44-32 by halftime.  MSU could get no closer than seven points early in the second period (34-27 with less than seven minutes left). 
• Breske was unstoppable in the third quarter, scoring the team's final 13 points to balloon their lead to 66-48.  DSU outscored MSU 22-16 in the first ten minutes of the third quarter.
• Dakota State's lead ballooned to 66-48 by the end of the third quarter and never looked back.
• DSU's Fick snagged a game-high nine rebounds for the Trojans.  Morgan Koepsell also had seven rebounds.  Heurng, Taylor Shamp and Hale each earned eight rebounds for the Comets.
• Dakota State dominated in field goals, going 33-for-64 (51.6 percent) compared to Mayville State's 24-for-67 (35.8 percent). The Trojans were led by Giles and Breske, each totaling eight field goals in the game.
• The Trojans drained 11 3-pointers in 21 tries (52.4 percent), while the Comets made 10 3-pointers in 35 attempts (28.6 percent).
• Koepsell led the Trojans in assists with a career-high seven assists.  Ashlyn Macdonald and Lexi Robson each added four assists.  Blascziek had five assists for the Comets.
• Mayville State committed 18 turnovers while Dakota State committed 14 turnovers.
• Dakota State's 11 steals helped propel them to their upset victory over the Comets.  The Comets achieved six total blocks against the Trojans, who had two blocks.
• Mayville State was 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line.  Dakota State was 7-for-13 free-throws (53.8 percent)
• DSU outrebounded MSU 40-38.

Madelyn Shockey, DSU Sports Writer