(RV) TIGERS FALL ON THE ROAD IN PHYSICAL BACK AND FORTH GPAC SEMIFINALS WITH NO. 2 DEFENDERS 69-59

Sioux Center, Iowa – Dakota Wesleyan fell on the road in the GPAC Semifinals against No. 2 Dordt 69-59. The (RV) Tigers took a three-point lead heading to the final quarter, but hit a scoring drought in the closing five minutes being outscored 11-0 during that span. It was a tight back and forth physical matchup from start to finish. Morgan Edelman led all scorers with her 18 points in the contest followed by Mya Wilson with 11 and Shalayne Nagel with 10. DWU shot 37.3% from the field, 45% from beyond the arc and 60% from the free throw line compared to the Defenders going 44%, 30.8%, and a staggering 21 for 23 (91.3%) from the charity stripe. Dakota Wesleyan now awaits their seeding and location spot for the NAIA National tournament after their 20-win regular and GPAC postseason play.

Highlighted Player– Morgan Edelman ~ 18 points  6 rebounds  1 assists

Stat Leaders:

Points – Morgan Edelman (18)

Assists – Rylee Rosenquist & Emma Yost (4)

Rebounds – Rylee Rosenquist (9)

Blocks – Emma Yost (2)

Steals – Mya Wilson & Emma Yost (2)

Recap

The first half was a tale of two quarters with the Defenders winning the first by a 20-11 margin, but DWU responding with a big second quarter defensive effort holding the high scoring Defenders to just 13 to grab the quarter 17-13. Dakota Wesleyan faced a 33-28 deficit heading to the locker room. The Defenders jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and looked as though they could run away with it early. The Tigers hit a huge scoring drought only recording one made basketball from the seven minute to the two minute mark in the quarter. During that stretch though, DWU did enough on defense to keep Dordt within striking distance. Facing a double-digit deficit, Shalayne Nagel drilled a three to cut the lead to single digits at 16-8. Dordt closed out the rest of the quarter with a 4-3 advantage for their 20-11 first quarter lead. Both teams were not shying away from the moment with physical play from start to finish in the quarter. Each team was in the bonus by the conclusion of the quarter.

In quarter two the Defenders struck first giving them their double-digit lead back, but DWU responded with a 9-2 run, drawing a Dordt timeout with the momentum on the court and the gym shifting towards the Tigers favor. During the run Rylee Rosenquist got two physical back down layups to fall and Mya Wilson drilled a three and got a steal on the inbound and put in the easy two. The Tigers got great looks from deep range and mid-range jumpers throughout the quarter but struggled to find the bottom of the net. On the defensive side though, the Tigers showed no signs of backing down from the number two ranked Defenders forcing 11 turnovers in the half that they turned into nine points while only committing five themselves which was a key coach Christensen stressed coming into the game. The other major key to the game coming in was grabbing offensive rebounds and 50/50 rebounds, which the Tigers won that battle 7-4, but could only turn the seven into three points. Dordt went a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line in the half while going just one of eight from deep compared to Dakota Wesleyan going three for six from the charity stripe and three of 10 from beyond the arc.

DWU out of the locker room wasted no time to erase the five-point Defender lead thanks to three's from Wilson and Morgan Edelman. The Tigers claimed their first lead of the game on back-to-back turnaround jumpers from Lacey Sprakel off the bench to give the Tigers a two-point lead. Dordt regained the lead off a converted and one from Macy Sievers but was quickly erased on a pair of free throws from Wilson and then a rhythm three pointer from Maleighya Estes. The Tigers kept that lead for the remainder of the quarter and took a three-point lead heading to the fourth.

With the DeWitt Gymnasium buzzing and alive with energy from both fan bases we were set for a great finish like last year in the GPAC Semifinals in Sioux Center. Dordt struck first with a 5-0 run, but like all year the gritty Tiger squad responded with a 5-0 run of their own to regain their three-point lead on back-to-back buckets from Edelman who led all scorers with 18.  After a layup and three pointer from Dordt, Nagel got the ball on the wing and drilled a three right in front of the DWU bench to give DWU the lead back. Dakota Wesleyan hit a scoring drought at the wrong time as the Defenders closed out the remaining 4:53 of the contest on a 11-0 run for the 69-59 loss for DWU.

Head-to-Head (Dordt)

• The Tigers are 45-32 all-time against the Defenders after the loss today.

Up Next

• Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball will now set their sights on the NAIA Tournament and await their seeding and location for the opening round after their 20-win season.