No. 12 DWU falls short of upset bid over No. 3 CUNE

MITCHELL, S.D. – In a game that saw 12 lead changes and eight ties, the No. 12 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team was poised for an upset. However, No. 3 Concordia University snuck out with a 69-67 victory between the Great Plains Athletic Conference foes on Saturday in the Corn Palace.

 It was the shooting from 3-point range that kept DWU rolling early as Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) and Jessica Mieras (Sioux Falls, S.D.) each made shots from beyond the arc early.

 Moments later, it was the Tiger (16-8, 9-7 GPAC) defense that caused a turnover with a shot-clock violation. Trailing by five points with 3:48 left in the opening quarter, Kaylee Kirk (Balaton, Minn.) nailed a 3-point basket to pull DWU within two points.

 With 1:34 left in the same quarter, Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) knocked down a pair of free throws to give DWU the lead. However, the Bulldogs (22-2, 15-1 GPAC) tied the game at 15 before the period ended.

 CUNE jumped out to a 20-15 lead in the first three minutes of the second frame. But, less than a minute later, a steal by Mieras turned into a Rynn Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) layup to cut the deficit to a point.

 With six minutes to play in the half, Makaela Karst (Plankinton, S.D.) found Cheeseman for a 3-pointer to hand the Tigers a 22-21 advantage.

 However, the Bulldogs finished the half on a 12-3 run to hold a 33-25 lead at halftime.

 DWU began the second half with a 7-0 run that started with a Cheeseman basket from beyond the arc. Mieras made a layup, followed by a Kirk jump shot to complete the scoring run.

 A few possessions later following a missed layup, Mieras snagged the offensive rebound and made her layup to give the Tigers their first lead of the second half. The Tigers continued to roll as they outscored the Bulldogs, 27-12 in the third stanza to hold a 52-45 lead heading to the final quarter.

 CUNE kicked of the fourth period with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 58 with 6:13 to play. Following a Karst layup and a Kirk jump shot, the Tigers regained a four-point advantage.

 The Bulldogs continued to chip away at the DWU lead until they held a 67-66 lead with 1:16 left. A Cheeseman free throw with 57 seconds to play tied the game.

 But Grace Barry sank a pair of free throws with two seconds to play, as the Tigers fell just short of overtime.

 Mieras finished with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and snagged seven rebounds, while Cheeseman chipped in 18 points and six assists. Kirk notched 12 points, six rebounds and four steals, as Carr and Karst combined for 12 points.

 The Tigers forced 17 turnovers and held CUNE to 18% shooting from 3-point range. DWU also finished with 35 rebounds and shot 43.4% from the field.

 DWU hits the road to battle Briar Cliff University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Sioux City, Iowa.