MITCHELL, S.D. – With the score tied late in the third quarter, the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team went on an 8-2 run thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Madison Mathews (Draper, S.D.) and Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.). The run propelled DWU onto victory over No. 8 Northwestern College, 76-73 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference showdown Wednesday at the Corn Palace.
The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 GPAC) opened the game on a 15-5 run that was capped off by a Mathews 3-pointer. But, the Red Raiders (3-1, 0-1 GPAC) strung together a 10-0 run of their own to tie the game at 15. DWU held a narrow margin after the opening quarter with an 18-17 lead.
Northwestern took a 10-point lead following a pair of 3-pointers and a layup, forcing a DWU timeout. Coming out of the timeout, senior Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) found freshman Sydney Halling (Harrisburg, S.D.) for an easy layup to pull within seven points.
The Tigers continued to claw their way back throughout the remainder of the second quarter. With three seconds left, Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) inbounded the ball to Mathews, who threw up a shot from beyond the arc at the buzzer and found nothing but the bottom of the net as DWU trailed 36-34 at halftime.
In the third quarter following five-consecutive free throws, Carr gave the Tigers the lead at 49-47 after two layups. Moments later with the score tied at 51, Cheeseman nailed a deep shot from behind the 3-point line to return the lead to DWU.
Two minutes later, Mathews found nothing but net as she drained a 3-pointer, while Cheeseman scored five points down the stretch to give DWU a 63-57 lead heading to the final quarter.
Northwestern began the final stanza on an 8-0 run to take a 65-63 lead after three minutes. Carr gave the Tigers the lead again after making a layup on back-to-back possessions.
With 3:36 remaining, Osthus dished the ball to Cheeseman for the 3-point shot as she nailed the attempt. On the next possession, Osthus was credited with the assist again, this time after a 3-pointer by Carr, giving the Tigers a 74-69 lead.
With 10 seconds left, Northwestern made a layup to make it a 74-73 game in favor of DWU. After being fouled on the in-bounds pass, Cheeseman knocked down a pair of free throws as DWU went on to defeat the Red Raiders in the GPAC opener.
Carr recorded a career high with 27 points as she notched a double-double with 10 rebounds. Cheeseman added 26 points and four rebounds, while Halling came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. The Tigers shot 42.4 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from beyond the arc. DWU finished with 14 points off turnovers and 32 total rebounds.
DWU returns to the hardwood for a GPAC road matchup against Midland University at 2 p.m. Saturday in Fremont, Neb.
