Mitchell, S.D.- The No. 12 Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball team welcomed Dordt University on Wednesday for a Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup at the Corn Palace. Following an entertaining first half that resulted in a two-point deficit for DWU, Dordt pulled away with a 74-70 victory.
Sarah Carr (Huron, S.D.) paced the Tigers in the first frame, scoring 13 points in the first 10 minutes. DWU trailed by one point with four minutes left to go in the opening stanza before Carr converted on a 3-point basket and a layup in consecutive possessions to give the Tigers (12-5, 5-4 GPAC) a four-point lead to end the frame.
Carr started the second quarter the same way she ended it, by converting on a layup and two free throws to leave the score at 19-15 in favor of the Tigers. With less than a minute to play in the first half, Makaela Karst (Plankinton, S.D.) converted on a layup to cut the DWU deficit to just two points to end the half.
The Defenders (17-3, 9-3 GPAC) opened the second half with back-to-back layups to push their lead to 32-28, two minutes into the frame. Jessica Mieras (Sioux Falls, S.D.) opened up the scoring for the Tigers by making a layup to cut their deficit to two points. A few minutes later, Mieras again scored, this time a 3-pointer to give the Tigers their first lead of the second half, 33-32.
The Tigers trailed 40-37 later, before Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) tied the game with a 3-pointer with two minutes left to go in the third quarter. After the Defenders took the lead, Karst converted on a layup and a free throw to give the Tigers a 45-43 lead with one minute left to go in the frame. Dordt tied the game at 46 with 40 seconds left in the period thanks to a 3-pointer.
A pair of free throws followed by a layup gave the Defenders a two-point lead just two minutes into the final frame. Rynn Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) gave the Tigers a one-point lead on the following possession thanks to a 3-point basket.
With six minutes left to play, the Tigers led 58-52, thanks to a Carr layup and a Haylee Mork (Aberdeen, S.D.) 3-pointer. Dordt tied the game at 60-60 with just four minutes left to play in the game and took a four-point lead with just under two minutes to play in the final frame.
Carr cut the lead to 71-67 thanks to a layup, which the Defenders extended to seven points with eleven seconds left in the game. Cheeseman made a 3-pointer to close the game to make the final scoreline 74-70 in favor of the Defenders.
DWU shot 40.6% from the field and 42.1% from the 3-point arc. Dordt converted on 47.1% of their field goals and shot 38.5% from the 3-point line.
Carr paced the Tiger scoring attack with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Cheeseman added 14 points and seven assists. Mieras also chipped in 11 points.
Dakota Wesleyan travels to Fremont, Neb., to take on GPAC foe Midland University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
