TIGERS DROP TIGHT BACK AND FORTH OVERTIME SEMIFINALS GAME TO NO. 4 DEFENDERS 75-74

Sioux Center, Iowa – The Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball team drops a heart-breaking overtime loss in a game they led for almost 26 minutes of against No. 4 Dordt Defenders in the GPAC Semifinal game. Jada Campbell and Morgan Edelman both fouled out in the fourth quarter resulting in the Tigers to battle it out in overtime without two of their main starters and leading scorer in Campbell. DWU had the ball last with 24 seconds in overtime, down by one but couldn't get the last second shot to fall. Four Tigers were in double figures in the contest with Edelman leading with her 16 and nine alone in the fourth quarter.

Stat Leaders:

Points –  Morgan Edelman (16)

Assists – Matti Reiner (4)

Rebounds – Matti Reiner (9)

Blocks – Jada Campbell (5)

Steals –Isabel Ihnen (2)

Recap –

The first couple minutes of the contest really showed the experience and calmness of the two teams playing today with both squads running their full sets, good ball movement and finding open shots. Campbell was the veteran presence for the Tigers this game with Reiner being the veteran force in the quarterfinals. Cool and steady handed Campbell was knocking down elbow jumper after elbow jumper on her way to eight total points in the first quarter for DWU. Jada was also a big presence on the defensive end, as she has been all year recording two big blocks in the quarter and letting the Dordt Defenders know she wasn't going anywhere and that the paint belongs to her. DOR struggling to get anything going inside reverted to the outside game hitting multiple open corner three's to keep it close with Dakota Wesleyan. After a slower more methodical start both teams picked up the pace in transition running the court more resulting in more frequent substitutions, which isn't a problem for either team with deep benches. Score would end knotted up at 16 after the first quarter with the Tigers never trailing during the first quarter of action.

Campbell with her aggressive defensive presence blocking shots earned her a third block early in the second quarter, but also got her in foul trouble picking up her second foul resulting in her sitting most of the second quarter and Christensen having to go with a combination of small ball and Sophomore Lacey Sprakel inside for most the quarter. Dordt grabbed their first lead of the contest with yet another corner three on a late Tiger contest with 5:30 left in the second quarter. DWU ran the court with their smaller offensive attack with Campbell on the bench that ended up paying off for them, winning the quarter 17-15 which is always a big win with Campbell on the bench as long as she was. Freshman and player of the game Tuesday in the semifinals, Rylee Rosenquist found her rhythm in the second quarter scoring four points. Rynn Osthus provided big minutes off the bench pouring in seven points in the first half of play. The Tigers shot a very efficient 48.3% from the floor during the half compared to the Defenders 39.4%. DWU who struggles from deep was able to go 2 for 7 in the half compared to DOR shooting 4 for 11 from beyond the arc. Tigers headed to the locker room with a 33-31 lead.

In the first couple minutes of the third quarter Campbell was tagged with her third foul putting Christensen in a tough spot with his star center. Campbell remained in the game, but was pulled shortly after and remained on the bench longer than usual in the quarter. DWU during the quarter took advantage and was exposing the Defenders slack defense in the middle of their set whether it was Reiner or Campbell pulling up at the elbow/free throw line knocking down easy jumpers. On DOR side of the ball they really found a groove in the quarter of working ball screens and rolling off them for wide open layups that the Tigers never really got a handle or answer for on the help/recovery defense. Dakota Wesleyan on defense also was struggling with switches on ball screens having two defenders follow the ball resulting in open shots and cutters. Halfway through the quarter DWU found their groove going on a 7-2 run for their biggest lead of the game at 44-37 resulting in a Dordt timeout. This was a well-used timeout with the Defenders closing out the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 47-44 lead heading to the fourth.

The first five minutes of the fourth had both teams going bucket for bucket foreshadowing another close finish and potential overtime like it was back in Mitchell during the two teams last matchup. Dakota Wesleyan regained the lead at the 6:00 mark on a Edelman top of the key three-pointer 56-55. Two minutes later in the game it would be Edelman again pulling up from deep and knocking down the shot giving DWU a four-point lead. Edelman, who typically is not a three-point shooter came up big for her team knocking down the pair down the stretch. A couple minutes later in the action Ihnen missed a jumper and Edelman's aggressiveness got the better of her picking up her fifth foul and giving the Defenders points with the clock stopped. Under two minutes to play DWU held a four-point lead but as it has been with these two teams DOR went on a 4-0 run to tie it up with one minute remaining and more importantly for the Defenders drew Campbell's fifth foul fouling her out of the game leaving Dakota Wesleyan without Edelman and Campbell down the stretch. With 24 seconds on the clock Osthus stepped up in a big way, taking a charge for her team and giving the Tigers the ball in a tie game with the shot clock off and 24 seconds left. DWU ran their set but failed to get off a shot in time sending the game to overtime.

Once again in overtime nothing changed with both teams trading blow for blow, but the Defenders gaining the slight 73-71 edge with 1:30 left in overtime. Dordt drilled a jumper resulting in a DWU timeout down four with a minute left. Rosenquist on the ensuing offensive position dribbled baseline going up and drawing the and one bucket for the Tigers cutting the lead to one after the converted free throw. The Defenders missed their three-point attempt and Reiner came down with the rebound and called a quick timeout to give DWU a chance to win the game with 13 seconds and the ball. Rosenquist drove in on the opposite baseline, drawing some contact, but ultimately coming up short on the layup and not getting the foul call, resulting in a heartbreaking 75-74 loss to the No. 4 Defenders.

Head-to-Head (Dordt)

• DWU is now 45-30 all-time against DOR with today's loss.
• Dakota Wesleyan has now been swept by Dordt in the three matchups this season.    

Up Next

• Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball now awaits for selection day to see if they earned a bid in the National Tournament with their final rank of Receiving Votes and 22 win season.