DSU Unable to Complete Comeback in NSAA Championship Game

In the NSAA Championship yesterday, the Dakota State women’s basketball team was unable to complete their comeback, falling to Mayville State 66-52.

The Trojans struck first, getting out to the early 7-0 lead. However, after a Mayville State timeout, the Comets outscored the Trojans 22-5 for the remainder of the quarter to take a 22-12 lead after the first.

Mayville State continued to add to their lead before halftime, scoring 20 more points and taking a 42-25 over the top-seeded Trojans into the half.

Coming out of the break, Dakota State attempted to make the comeback, ending the third quarter on a 14-5 scoring run to close into Mayville State’s lead. The Trojans, however, could get no closer than four points of the Comets in the second half. 

MSU closed out the game with multiple free-throws in the final minutes, as they took down DSU by a final score of 66-52. The Trojans trailed by as much as 20 points in the game before attempting to comeback.

Savannah Walsdorf had a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds. Elsie Aslesen had a team-leading 11 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Lilli Mackley added nine points and six rebounds.

The Comets were led by the NSAA Player-of-the-Year, Jordan Zrust, who scored 22 points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Trojans were 20-56 from the field and 7-31 from three-point range, while the Comets were 22-50 from the field and 11-22 from beyond the arc.

The loss ends Dakota State’s win streak at 15 games, and will now be needing an at-large bid in order to make the NAIA National Tournament.