Defense guides Tigers to dominating win over Lancers

YANKTON, S.D. – Forcing 25 turnovers and coming away with 18 steals, the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team cruised to a 73-45 victory over Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Mount Marty University Thursday night in Yankton, S.D.

 Both teams traded baskets in the opening minutes as the score was tied 4-4 early on. However, Jada Campbell (Alexandria, S.D.) converted on a layup, followed by a Mattie Reiner (Tripp, S.D.) 3-pointer to push the lead to five points.

 However, the Lancers (4-20, 2-19 GPAC) responded with a 3-point basket of their own to pull back within two points. After the Tigers (14-9, 12-9 GPAC) built their lead back to six points, MMU knocked down another 3-pointer, followed by a pair of free throws to stay within striking distance.

 Leading by one point with two minutes to play in the opening quarter, Haidyn Pitsch (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Kaylee Kirk (Balaton, Minn.) made back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to seven points. But the Lancers once again answered with a 5-0 spurt with pull within two points at the quarter break.

 The Tigers came alive in the second period as they opened the quarter on a 17-3 run that was capped off with a Pitsch 3-pointer. Leading 41-26 with three minutes to play in the half, Kirk found Isabel Ihnen (Lennox, S.D.) open from behind the arc as she buried her shot, followed by another Pitsch 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 21-point advantage. DWU continued to cruise into halftime, holding a 47-28 lead.

 The Tigers opened the third frame on another run, this time with a 13-0 push to take a 60-28 lead. After the Lancers made a 3-pointer with under a minute to play in the third quarter, Rynn Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) knocked down a jump shot to give the Tigers a 30-point lead with 10 minutes to play.

 DWU kept the foot of the gas as the led by as many as 34 points in the final quarter, en route to a 28-point victory.

 Pitsch scored a game-high 22 points on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown, as Reiner finished with 13 points and six rebounds and Osthus chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds. Kirk stuffed the box score as she notched seven steals, six points, five rebounds and four assists, while Campbell tallied 10 points and seven boards.

 The Tigers finished a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line and tallied 16 assists as a team.

 DWU concludes the regular season with a home bout against University of Jamestown at 2 p.m. tomorrow from the Corn Palace.