NO.11 DWU WINS THE 'BATTLE OF THE TIGERS' WITH 75-69 OT THRILLER

Mitchell, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball needed overtime to win the 'Battle of the Tigers' 75-69. Isabel Ihnen led DWU with her 21 points, lighting it up from deep going 5-12. Matti Reiner stuffed the stat sheet with her 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Dakota Wesleyan improves to 6-1 (4-1 GPAC) while Doane drops to 4-3 (2-3 in the GPAC).

Highlighted Player– Isabel Ihnen  21 points  7 rebounds  5-12 3-point FG

Stat Leaders:

Points –  Isabel Ihnen (21)

Assists – Matti Reiner (5)

Rebounds – Matti Reiner (8)

Blocks – Jada Campbell & Matti Reiner (2)

Steals – Aspen Hansen & Matti Reiner (3)

Recap –

Doane's high-powered offense came out firing with an early 7-3 lead backing up their 81+ points per game offense on the year. Dakota Wesleyan brought it to within one thanks to a converted free throw from Morgan Edelman and layup by Hansen on the great pass from Ihnen. Both squads amped up the defense keeping each other scoreless for the next two minutes of gameplay for a 7-5 Doane lead halfway through the quarter. Tigers would go bucket for bucket with each other to keep it knotted up with 2:00 left in the first. DWU grabbed their first lead of the game on a Reiner free throw for a slim 15-14 advantage. In the closing minute both teams got a bucket to fall for a 17-16 DWU lead after one.

Ihnen started the second with a bang drilling a three from way downtown to set the tone for the quarter. Mya Wilson would enter the game for DWU and make an immediate impact scoring five of the Tigers seven points to increase the lead to 27-22. DWU went on a massive 15-2 run to pull away from DU. Wilson scoring five during the run as well as Ihnen pouring in six with two more deep range buckets. Doane closed the remaining minutes on a slim 6-4 run for a DWU halftime lead of 39-30.

DWU stayed on the attack in the second half finding the holes in the Doane perimeter defense with another three ball, this time from Reiner to push the lead back to double digits. DU got a couple layups to go but would both basically be wiped out thanks to Edelman's three-point bucket. Lead remained double-digits for DWU, 45-34. Ihnen, with the shot clock running down, put up a deep three that was nothing but net. Doane's offense would finally wake up going on a 10-2 run to close the DWU lead down to four with 2:47 left in the third. Campbell and Reiner would take charge of the Tiger offense and push the lead back to double digits with a minute left in the quarter. DU hit a three-pointer at the end of the quarter for a 56-49 DWU lead heading to the fourth.

Fourth quarter would be all Doane, who outscored DWU 16-9 in the entire quarter. Dakota Wesleyan's defense got key stops when they needed it, but struggled to get any momentum going on offense. Campbell had four points in the quarter, Wilson with two, Hansen had one and Reiner with a bucket. Dakota Wesleyan would have the ball with 20 seconds left but turn it over on an offensive charge foul. Doane burned a timeout to talk over the plan of attack but wouldn't get a good look with a deep three-point cast that ultimately was blocked by Campbell to send the game to overtime at 65-65 apiece.

Both teams went back and forth in the first four minutes of the five-minute overtime keeping it knotted up at 69 with a 1:30 left. DWU used a timeout, and it paid off when Hansen got wide open for an easy layup to put DWU up. Dakota Wesleyan would never look back and only pad onto that lead closing out the last minute of overtime on a 6-0 for a 75-69 final.

Head-to-Head (Doane University)

• DWU is 29-12 all-time against DU with tonight's win.
• Last time the two teams met was January 22^nd, 2022 with DWU grabbing the 86-82 win.
• The Tigers currently are riding an 18-game winning streak against the DU Tigers

Up Next

• Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball plays again at the Corn Palace tomorrow December 3^rd for a matchup against Hastings College. Tip off is set for 1:00 p.m.