No. 2 DWU cruise past No. 13 Broncos

MITCHELL, S.D. – The No. 2 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team outscored No. 13 Hastings College in each quarter on their way to an 81-63 Great Plains Athletic Conference victory Saturday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

 The Broncos (3-3, 2-2 GPAC) jumped out to an early 9-4 lead after a 3-pointer. DWU finished the first quarter on a 9-2 run that was capped off by a Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) 3-pointer that gave the Tigers a 15-13 lead.

 After Hastings tied the game at 21, Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) drove to the basket and made a layup to help the Tigers (7-0, 4-0 GPAC) regain the advantage.

 With two minutes remaining in the first half, Sydney Halling (Harrisburg, S.D.) made a layup and was fouled. She went on the make the ensuing free throw that gave DWU a 33-24 lead, forcing a Hastings timeout.

 A minute later, Makaela Karst (Plankinton, S.D.) stole the ball and found Cheeseman for a layup to give the Tigers a 35-28 lead at the half.

 The second half got off to a quick start as Hastings nailed a 3-pointer to pull within four points. However, Carr made a 3-pointer of her own followed by a jump shot on the next possession to push the lead to nine points.

 With three minutes left in the third period, Karst found nothing but the bottom of the net from a shot beyond the arc to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the game to that point, 51-38.

 DWU opened up the final quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 62-47 lead and force a Broncos timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) drove to the basket and made a layup to push the lead to 15 points.

 Up by 12 points with 3:36 left to play, Osthus found Cheeseman behind the arc for a 3-point basket, followed by a Cheeseman layup. Moments later, Madison Mathews (Draper, S.D.) passed the ball to Carr who made a deep 3-point shot that pushed the Tigers to victory Saturday afternoon.

 Cheeseman tallied 24 points and five assists, as Carr notched 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Osthus and Karst recorded 11 points apiece, while Halling chipped in 10 points off the bench. The Tigers shot 55.8 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range. DWU finished with 18 assists to just four by Hastings, while scoring 32 points in the paint compared to 22 by the Broncos.

 The Tigers host the No. 16 University of Jamestown for a GPAC bout at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Corn Palace.