No. 1 Tigers suffer first loss of season

MITCHELL, S.D. – Despite getting out to an early 23-16 lead, the No. 1 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team dropped its' first game of the season to No. 3 Concordia University, 82-68 Saturday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

 Senior guard Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) opened up the game with a pair of jump shots for DWU in the opening possessions. Following a 3-pointer by the Bulldogs (12-1, 8-1 GPAC), layups by Madison Mathews (Draper, S.D.) and Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) helped DWU take its' first lead of the game.

 The Tigers (13-1, 8-1 GPAC) held onto the lead for the remainder of the first quarter as Carr extended the lead with a layup. Midway through the first quarter, Carr added a pair of layups to push the lead to six points. However, a quick 6-0 run by Concordia knotted the game at 16.

 But, a 7-0 run capped off by a Makaela Karst (Plankinton, S.D.) jump shot to end the opening stanza gave the Tigers a 23-16 lead.

 The Bulldogs opened up the second quarter on a 12-4 run to take their first lead since early in the first quarter at 28-27. After Concordia took a nine-point lead, a Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) jump shot kept the Tigers within striking distance.

 On the following possession, Osthus dished the ball to Carr in the post as she knocked in the layup to make it a five-point deficit. After the Bulldogs took an 11-point lead, Karst made back-to-back layups to make it a seven-point game at halftime.

 Mathews and Cheeseman kept DWU within seven points in the opening minutes of the second half, until Mathews knocked in a layup to pull the Tigers within five points.

 Midway through the third quarter Concordia made a 3-point shot to make it an eight-point game. However, Cheeseman answered with a 3-pointer of her own.

 Neither team could make a basket for nearly three minutes to begin the fourth quarter until the Bulldogs knocked down a 3-point shot. But, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run finished off with an Osthus jumper to make it a five-point game with 4:22 left to play.

 However, a 14-4 run by the Bulldogs to end the game helped them pull away down the stretch to hand DWU its' first loss of the season.

 Carr led the charge for the Tigers with 19 points and five rebounds, while Cheeseman almost notched a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Osthus finished with 11 points and eight assists, as Mathews added 10 points and seven rebounds.

 The Tigers shot 38.6 percent from the field and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line, while finishing with 34 rebounds and scoring 32 points in the paint.

 DWU heads south to take part in the West Palm Invite against Keiser University at noon on Wednesday in West Palm Beach, Fla.