Stifling defense leads No. 14 DWU past No. 12 Red Raiders

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The No. 14 Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team held No. 12 Northwestern College 30 points under their season average as DWU cruised to an 82-56 victory Wednesday night in a Great Plains Athletic Conference clash in Orange City, Iowa.

 DWU used its' size early as Jessica Mieras (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) each made baskets to take an 8-3 lead.

 Moments later, Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) and Makaela Karst (Plankinton, S.D.) each made baskets to extend the lead to nine points, forcing a Red Raider (11-4, 6-4 GPAC) timeout.

 The Tigers (13-5, 6-4 GPAC) continued to pound the ball inside as they only attempted one 3-pointer in the first quarter and held a 26-15 advantage after one quarter.

 The first made 3-pointer of the game for DWU came in the opening seconds of the second quarter as Cheeseman drilled her shot from deep.

 DWU continued to extend its' lead until taking a 20-point lead off a Mieras basket with a minute to play. However, the Red Raiders made a pair of shots to end the half to cut the DWU lead to 16 points at halftime.

 With just under four minutes to play in the third stanza, NWC cut the DWU lead to 13 points following a Jada Cunningham 3-pointer. But, Rynn Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) answered with a shot on the ensuing possession.

 The Tigers went on a 12-0 run to end the third period and begin the fourth quarter and take a 65-41 lead. With five minutes to play, DWU strung together another run, this time with a 10-4 spurt as they cruised to a 26-point victory.

 Carr paced the Tigers with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists, as she moved into ninth on the program all-time scoring list with 1,534 career points; passing Robin Morgan. Cheeseman added 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals, while she moved into second in program scoring history with 1,857 career points; passing Ronda Morgan.

 Mieras chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds, while DWU shot 58.1% from the field and held NWC to 31% from the floor.

 The Tigers return home to battle No. 6 Dordt University for a GPAC showdown at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Corn Palace.