MITCHELL, S.D. – On a night that saw numerous milestones reached, the No. 1 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team defeated in-state rival Dakota State University, 93-63 in non-conference action Wednesday night at the Corn Palace.
Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) kicked off the night with a 3-point basket on the first possession of the game. After taking a 5-0 lead, Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) made her presence known in the post as she connected on back-to-back layups to put DWU up 9-2.
The Tigers (13-0) continued to score in the paint until Kaylee Kirk (Balaton, Minn.) notched a 3-point basket, pushing the lead to 13 points.
Moments later, Madison Mathews (Draper, S.D.) nailed a 3-pointer followed by another shot from beyond the arc by Cheeseman.
DWU began the second quarter on a 10-2 run that was capped off with consecutive layups by Halling, forcing a Lady T's (1-9) timeout. After DSU made a pair of layups, Cheeseman and Carr responded with back-to-back baskets as the Tigers held a 53-29 lead at halftime.
The Lady T's began the second half with two 3-point baskets to cut into the DWU lead. However, Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) drove to the wing and sank a midrange jump shot to end the DSU run.
After DSU cut the Tiger lead to 17 points later in the third period, Makaela Karst (Plankinton, S.D.) and Halling made layups to push the lead back to 21 points.
Osthus started the final quarter with a quick 5-0 run by herself followed by a Karst layup to push the lead to 26 points. With 4:56 left in the game, a layup by Carr gave the Tigers their biggest lead of the contest at 34 points, as DWU cruised to victory.
Cheeseman secured 1,000 points in her career with a 20-point night on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Karst tallied 19 points and eight rebounds, while Halling chipped in 15 points. Osthus recorded 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds, as Carr notched 13 points and seven rebounds in the game.
Following last season's five national tournament wins and this seasons 13 straight victories, DWU has broken the program record for most consecutive wins with 18 that was previously held by the 2001-02 team. The Tigers shot 52.9 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from 3-point range, while outrebounds the Lady T's 33-22. DWU forced 18 turnovers and scored 21 points off turnovers and scored 46 points in the paint.
The Tigers take on No. 3 Concordia University for a top-5 Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Corn Palace.
