MITCHELL, S.D. – The No. 10 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team finished the regular season home schedule with an 11-1 record after defeating No. 9 Northwestern College, 81-60 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference battle Wednesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.
The DWU offense got off to a hot start thanks to an Amber Bray (Anoka, Minn.) 3-pointer to begin the scoring for the Tigers. After the Red Raiders (20-7,15-4 GPAC) pulled within three points, Amber Bray knocked down another three-point shot to extend the DWU lead. The Tigers (25-4, 16-3 GPAC) used a quick 8-0 run to pull away from NWC midway through the first quarter after Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) nailed a deep 3-pointer.
After a timeout in the beginning of the second quarter, Amber Bray made back-to-back 3-pointers to give her four three-point shots in the first half to give DWU a 31-19 lead. After Northwestern pulled within single digits, Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) found herself open from beyond the arc as she made a three-point shot to give DWU a double-digit lead at halftime, 38-27.
Ashley Bray (Anoka, Minn.) opened up the third quarter with five-straight points after a 3-pointer and a layup. With under four minutes to play in the third quarter, Osthus drove to the basket and knocked in the old-fashioned three-point play after getting fouled and making the layup and the free throw.
In a three-minute span, Cheeseman scored seven-consecutive points in the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a 69-50 lead, forcing the Northwestern timeout. DWU continued to build on their lead thanks to a plethora of Tigers chipping in as DWU won its 10th-straight game.
Amber Bray finished with 21 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range, while Cheeseman chipped in 20 points. Osthus notched a double-double as she scored 14 points and dished out 10 assists, while Ashley Bray tallied nine points and five rebounds. DWU shot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range, while holding Northwestern to just 1-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc. The Tigers finished with 21 assists to eight assists by the Red Raiders.
DWU finishes the regular season at GPAC foe No. 2 Concordia University at 2 p.m. Saturday in Seward, Neb.
