Seward, Neb. – Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball came up just shy of an upset over No.11 Concordia Bulldogs on the road by a score of 69-61. The Tigers led at the break by seven after a big first quarter led by Taliyah Hayes with nine points. Turnovers and missed rebounds spelled out trouble for the Tigers in the second half as the Bulldogs took the lead late through the third and held off the DWU comeback. Emma Yost and Hayes led the squad with 13 points each and Anna Campbell followed with her nine points.
Highlighted Player – Emma Yost – 13 points / 3 rebounds / 2 assists / 1 steal
Stat Leaders:
Points – Emma Yost and Taliyah Hayes (13)
Assists – Morgan Edelman (4)
Rebounds – Morgan Edelman and Rylee Rosenquist (4)
Blocks – Anna Campbell (1)
Recap –
The Tigers dominated in the opening quarter against the No. 11 ranked Bulldogs of Concordia University. The two teams traded a few buckets early until Concordia grabbed a one-point lead after Emma Yost sank a free throw. The Tigers looked to their bench for a spark and found one in Mya Wilson as she drilled a three pointer from the corner to put DWU up by one possession and this bucket kicked off a run for the Tigers. DWU would score on their next seven possessions to go up 21-12 as the quarter came to an end.
The Tigers were unable to extend their lead beyond nine points but held onto it throughout the quarter. Isabel Ihnen scored the first bucket for DWU in their opening possession as the shot clock expired. The Bulldogs attacked the offensive boards and scored a few easy ones on the Tigers, but DWU would respond by getting easy shots of their own. Taliyah Hayes found a few easy layups as she ran the floor for DWU and helped hold off the Bulldog offense as the teams went into the halftime break with the Tigers up 37-30.
Coming out of the break, Concordia went on a six-point run to cut the Tiger's lead to just one before Anna Campbell found herself wide open for DWU's first bucker of the third quarter. As the Bulldogs cut into the lead, their full court defense became even more aggressive and forced several turnovers by the Tiger guards. Concordia was able to get a one-point lead with about 4:20 on the clock before the two teams traded the lead for a few minutes. Both squads found themselves with five team fouls a piece and the two teams found free points late in the third. Afte a pair of Rylee Rosenquist free throws cut the Bulldog lead back to one, the Bulldogs made their first three pointer of the game at the other end and gave them a four-point lead. DWU struggled throughout the third with the full court pressure and threw five turnovers in the quarter and found themselves trailing by five points.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Tigers needed to find a way to score buckets. Ihnen and Nagel were unable to connect on their first attempts in the opening minute of the final quarter and allowed the Bulldogs to go up 12. Rosenquist, Yost, and Hayes attacked the rim trying to get their squad back into the game and were given chances at the charity stripe. The trio made seven of eight free throws in the last quarter to keep the game just within reach. Yost would score the last five points for the Tigers with a jump shot from outside the paint and then drilled a triple from the top of the key to cut the score to six. As the Tigers looked to add pressure and force a turnover, Concordia found an open layup and went up eight. The Tigers' last effort threes didn't find the bottom of the net and the Bulldogs came out on top of DWU 69-61. Yost and Hayes each led with 13 points for the Tigers and the Tiger defense forced 13 turnovers on the No. 11 Bulldogs.
Up Next for the Bulldogs –
The Tigers will be at home hosting the Morningside Broncos on January 10th with tipoff set for 6:00 PM.