No. 6 DWU women stomp in-state rival

YANKTON, S.D. – The No. 6 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team held Mount Marty College to two points in the fourth quarter, on its way to a 78-32 victory in Great Plains Athletic Conference action Wednesday in Yankton, S.D.

 Defense was key for the Tigers, as they held the Lancers scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. DWU quickly grew its lead to 11-6, thanks to a layup by Ashley Bray (Anoka, Minn.) Jessica Mieras (Sioux Falls, S.D.) later added another layup to give DWU a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

 In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) sank a 3-pointer to propel the Tiger offense. At the 4:31 mark, Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) added another 3-pointer, giving the Tigers (10-1, 4-1 GPAC) an 11-point lead. DWU went on to add seven more points to close out the quarter.

 Three pointers were easy to come by for DWU in the second half. Ashley Bray and Amber Bray (Anoka, Minn.) traded shots in the opening minutes of the third quarter on back-to-back three-point shots. Six minutes later, the twins were right back at it, hitting another set of 3-pointers. Carr added to the hot shooting, adding a 3-pointer of her own at the closing seconds of the third quarter.

 The fourth quarter belonged to DWU as it started with a jumper by Carr, giving the Tigers a 28-point lead. A pair of free throws and another jumper by Mieras put the Tigers in the driver's seat the rest of the way, including 3-pointers from Amber Bray and Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.)

 Aside from the strong offensive effort, the Tiger defense held Mount Marty to just 13 points in the entire second half.

 Ashley Bray tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. She also stamped her name into 11^th-place on the DWU all-time scoring list with 1,307 career points, passing Raven Morgan. Amber Bray also added 17 points and four rebounds. Carr had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Cheeseman added nine points and five boards. Mieras pitched in eight points and six boards and Osthus had seven points, six assists and four rebounds.

 The Tigers shot 52 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc and 83 percent from the charity stripe. DWU outrebounded the Lancers 42-25 and recorded 21 assists compared to five by Mount Marty.

 DWU continues conference action, hitting the road to square off with No. 19 Hastings College at 2 p.m. Saturday in Hastings, Neb.