Despite Slow Starts Trojans Extend Win Streak to Eight

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Dakota State Women’s basketball team was able to extend their win streak to eight over the weekend, getting NSAA victories against Waldorf and Viterbo. 

In their first game of the weekend, both DSU and Waldorf got out to slow starts, with the two teams going scoreless for nearly four minutes after the opening score. The two teams traded baskets throughout the quarter though, until the Trojans ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 18-9 lead.

DSU outscored Waldorf in the second quarter 15-9 to extend their lead to 33-18 by halftime. The Trojans then came out of the break scoring 17 of the first 20 points in the third quarter to balloon their lead 50-21. 

With the Trojans continuing to outscore the Warriors, outscoring them 25-10 in the final quarter, the home team was able to safely secure the 76-38 victory. 

Dakota State forced Waldorf to 33 turnovers and held them to 26.1 percent field goal shooting.

Savannah Walsdorf led DSU with 14 points on her 6-of-10 field goals and grabbed four rebounds. She stole the ball five times. Elsie Aselsen and Angela Slattery each added 12 points. Aslesen had six rebounds and three blocks. Slattery collected four rebounds. Courtney Menning stole the ball four times and scored four points.

Lilli Mackley registered nine points and two steals for the Trojans. Caitlin Dyer added eight points, two assists, and two steals. Olivia Ritter also had eight points and two rebounds. Sidney Fick hit game-highs 11 rebounds and five blocked shots (career-high). 

Bethany Rehse led the Warriors with nine points and five rebounds. 

Dakota State shot 28-of-66 from the field (42.4 percent) compared to Waldorf 12-of-46 field goals. The Warriors were 5-of-16 from the 3-point line, while the Trojans were 3-of-24 3-pointers.

The Trojans outscored the Warriors 10-0 in fast-break points, 27-2 in points off turnovers, 50-12 inside the paint, and 35-10 in bench points.

In the second game of the weekend for the Trojans, the game started similarly to the first, with the Trojans getting out to a slow start against Viterbo, but with the game tied at 4-4, DSU stormed for 13 straight points to get a 17-4 lead. Viterbo closed out the quarter with an 8-2 run though, cutting into DSU’s lead at 19-12.

DSU maintained their lead throughout the game, and never trailed against Viterbo. The Trojans were able to outscore the V-Hawks 25-16 in the second quarter to take a 44-28 halftime lead.

The Trojans opened up the second half scoring 12 straight points, and ended up scoring 25 points in the third quarter as well to take a comfortable 69-39 lead into the final quarter.

Despite the V-Hawks outscoring the Trojans 20-11 in the final quarter, the Trojans held a double-digit lead for the rest of the game on their way to a 80-59 home victory. 

Slattery scored 14 points off the bench on her 5-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-9 3-pointers for Dakota State. She grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists, and stole the ball four times.

Dyer tallied 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Menning had 11 points and recorded five steals. Aslesen scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. She also had three steals and two blocks.

Mackley tallied seven points, four rebounds, and two steals for the Trojans. Fick had seven points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Olivia Ritter had six points, three rebounds, and three assists.

Natalia Leguizamon led the V-Hawks with 12 points and four steals.  

Dakota State was 28-of-72 overall from the field (38.9 percent) and held Viterbo to 29.7 percent (19-of-64 field goals).  DSU drained 10 3-pointers in 36 attempts while VU made 2-of-16 3-pointers.

The Trojans went perfect at the free-throw line, making all 14 free-throw attempts.  The V-Hawks were 19-of-22 free-throws (86.4 percent).

Dakota State outscored Viterbo 37-28 in points off turnovers, 36-30 inside the paint, and 46-34 in bench points.  Both teams scored 14 points in transition.

DSU extended their winning streak this weekend to eight games, all in NSAA action. It marked the second time this season that the Trojans had won eight straight games, tying for eighth best winning streak in the school record book.

The Trojans wrapped up the month of January with an undefeated record and their fourth straight weekend sweep in North Star conference action, as the Trojans now have an 18-5 overall record and 8-1 NSAA record.