February 29, 2020
PRESS RELEASE - Photos credit by Cody Welu and Karen Giles
WATERTOWN, S.D. – Fueled by a de facto home crowd, No. 3 seed Dakota State (S.D.) nearly rallied from a 10-point deficit with five minutes to play before falling to No. 2 seed Mayville State (N.D.) by a score of 85-82 in the semifinals of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Watertown Civic Arena.
With the victory, Mayville State (ranked No. 19 in the latest NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll) improves to 24-5 and advances to play No. 5 seed Viterbo University in tomorrow's championship game at 1 p.m. after the V-Hawks defeated (1-seed) Bellevue in another semifinals thriller (83-80 in overtime) earlier on Saturday afternoon.
Dakota State ends their season with an overall record of 17-14, the most overall victories since the 2007-08 season. The Trojans were making their first NSAA semifinal appearance since 2013-14 season, the first year the league formed. DSU started the season with a 2-9 overall record and had won 15 times in the final 20 games (15-5 record).
Both teams started strong offensively and with a great deal of intensity. Mayville State quickly went ahead 7-2 but the Trojans withstood the initial blow and battled back to take a 23-21 after one period of play.
Dakota State came out hot in the second quarter, using a 9-0 run to push their lead to 11 at 32-21, just two minutes into the period. The Trojans pushed their lead to as many as 13 before a 12-0 run by the Comets cut the DSU lead to one at 36-35.
Lexi Robson put out the fire temporarily with a corner three to put DSU back up by four with 2:57 to go in the half but Nicole Bunting buried a similar shot at the other end and NSAA Player-of-the-Year Kylee Heurung converted an and-one to give the Comets their first lead since midway through the first quarter.
When the dust settled following a frantically paced first half, the Comets took a 46-44 lead into the locker rooms as Taylor Skjordal drilled a three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer.
Heurung led all players with 17 points at the break for Mayville State. Morgan Koepsell paced the Trojans with 13 points in the opening half.
Out of the break, the Comets used a 12-4 to grab their first double-digit lead of the game at 58-48 midway through the third quarter.
MSU led by as many as 12 in the third quarter and took that same advantage, 67-55, into the fourth quarter.
The Comet lead hovered between 10-and-12 until the midway mark of the fourth quarter when a Sidney Fick free throw and paint jumpers from Jessi Giles and Fick pulled DSU within seven points, 77-70.
A runner from Courtney Menning and a Savannah Walsdorf layup off a steal on the ensuing possession pulled the Trojans within one possession, 81-78, with 2:05 to play.
After a defensive stop, Lexi Robson made a move around a defender and appeared to be fouled from behind while going in for a layup, but no call was made.
A Mayville State turnover at the other end gave DSU the ball with a chance to tie but an offensive foul saw possession reverted to the Comets.
After Giles recorded a steal in the back court, she fed Robson on the break for an uncontested layup to make it an 81-80 game with 32.0 seconds remaining.
Nicole Bunting knocked down a pair of free throws following a Trojan foul to restore the MSU lead to three points, 83-80, with 25.9 seconds to play.
Sidney Fick got a pair of open looks from three for Dakota State but was unable to get a shot to fall with a rebound going out of bounds to the comets.
Savannah Walsdorf stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made a layup to again pull within one.
A pair of free throws from Bunting and a missed desperation heave saw the Comets hold on for an 85-82 win, despite being outscored by the Trojans 27-18 in the final quarter.
Fick scored 22 points to lead Dakota State with Walsdorf pouring in 21 points and hauling down nine rebounds. Walsdorf and Giles each stole the ball three times. Koepsell finished the game with 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Fick and Koepsell had two blocked shots.
Robson had seven points and dished out five assists. Giles and Ashlyn Macdonald each had three assists.
Bunting led Mayville State with 25 points to lead four Comets in double figures. Heurung scored 19 points and pulled down eight boards. Taylor Shamp scored 13 points and Jordan Zrust chipped in 12 points on the day.
Blascziek contributed a game-high eight assists for MSU. Heurung added eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Andrea Skillingstad recorded four blocked shots.
Dakota State shot 47.6 percent from the field in the game (30-of-67 field goals) compared to Mayville State 46 percent (29-of-63 field goals). Both teams drained five 3-pointers.
The Comets were 22-of-28 from the free-throw line (78.6 percent), while the Trojans struggled from the free throw line by converting 17-of-29 free-throws (58.6 percent).
DSU outrebounded MSU 39-37 in the game.
The Trojans outscored the Comets 14-2 in fast-break points, 18-14 in points off turnovers and 40-38 inside the paint.
Saturday's game was the final game for Trojan senior Lindsey Vogl. She finished her season with 7.7 points per game (222 total points). She was 74-of-171 from the field (43.3 percent) and 56-of-122 3-pointers (45.9 percent). She records the third best single-season 3-point field goal percentage in the school record book.
Vogl finished her impressive career at DSU with 242-of-603 field goals (40.1 percent) and drained 163 3-pointers in 419 tries (38.9 percent). She holds the second-best 3-point field goal percentage in school history and tied for fourth most all-time 3-point field goals made with 163 3-pointers with Heidi Honermann from 1997-01.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
