MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team came into its matchup with Northwestern College in need of a win to keep pace in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and to stay in position for the berth in the NAIA National Tournament.
The No. 14 Tigers battled through rough shooting and turnovers, making big shots down the stretch and getting defensive stops to outlast the Red Raiders 64-62 Wednesday at the Corn Palace. The win keeps DWU in a tie for second place in the GPAC.
With No. 10 Briar Cliff University falling to No. 2 Morningside College Wednesday, the Tigers are now in a three-way tie for second place with No. 13 Concordia University and No. 19 Mount Marty College with one game left to play in the regular season. With a win against No. 20 Hastings College at home on Saturday, DWU is guaranteed to host a GPAC playoff game for the first time since 2003-04, which is also the last time the Tigers earned a spot in the NAIA National Tournament. Hastings and Briar Cliff are tied for fifth place, one-game back of the pack in second.
The Tigers (22-7, 14-7 GPAC) and Red Raiders both had trouble finding points in the first half, but DWU did enough to hold a 26-23 lead at the break. The matchup went back and forth in the second half as the shooting perked up on both sides. Junior forward Kristin Sabers continued her strong offensive play of late with six points in the third to help DWU keep pace.
The contest went down to the wire in the fourth. After DWU built a seven-point lead with 2:49 to play, the Red Raiders went on a 7-2 run to pull within a bucket with 1:28 to go. That is where the scoring stopped as the DWU defense stiffened, and despite late missed free throws, the Tigers held on for the crucial win.
Sophomore Amber Bray (Anoka, Minn.) led DWU with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds and hitting two 3-pointers. Sabers and junior forward Erica Herrold (Dimock, S.D.) each finished with 16 points, while sophomore Ashley Bray (Anoka, Minn.) added seven points and six rebounds.
The Tigers shot 23-of-58 from the field, 5-of-20 from deep and 13-of-19 from the free-throw line. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 32-29, while finishing with 18 assists and 11 turnovers.
Kassidy De Jong scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Red Raiders, including three 3-pointers. Northwestern shot 25-of-57 from the field, 5-of-15 from deep and 7-of-18 from the free-throw line.
DWU concludes the regular season against No. 20 Hastings at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Corn Palace. The Tigers topped the Broncos earlier this season in Hastings, Neb.
