DSU Women’s Basketball Add Another Win in the Dakota Clash
The Dakota State women’s basketball team pulled away past Mayville State Saturday afternoon, thanks to their second quarter surge, for an 83-75 victory in the annual Dakota Clash tournament.
The Trojans lifted their all-time 6-0 record in the two-day tournament (battle of South Dakota and North Dakota teams from the NSAA, where its inception was started in 2020 at Dakota State followed by Mayville State as the host in 2021), which was held by Presentation this year.
Both teams traded leads in the first two-and-half minutes, and towards the end of the quarter Mayville State led by as many as seven points at 20-13.
The Trojans kicked off the second period with an 11-2 scoring surge in the first four-and-half minutes, capped by a 3-pointer by Olivia Ritter. DSU regained their lead at 26-22 with 5:35 left in the second. Sidney Fick closed the second quarter with back-to-back baskets as the Trojans grabbed a 40-36 halftime lead.
Mayville State started the third quarter with a 5-0 run to regain their lead to 41-40. Tied at 43-43, DSU went on a 14-4 scoring run to earn the first double digit lead of the game. The Trojans outscored the Comets 17-15 in the third quarter, and took a 57-51 lead into the fourth.
DSU outscored MSU 26-24 in a high scoring affair in the fourth period, but Mayville State could get no closer than three points with less than two minutes left, trailing 78-75. The Trojans closed out the game on a 5-0 run to beat the Comets 83-75.
Elsie Aslesen scored 21 points on her 8-of-12 field goals and 4-of-5 free-throws for Dakota State. She also had six rebounds, two steals, and a block. Fick tallied 17 points on her 8-of-17 field goals and stole the ball twice.
Lilli Mackley scored 13 points off the bench for the Trojans. She also had four rebounds. Savannah Walsdorf had eight points and pulled down eight rebounds. Ritter had seven points. Caitlin Dyer and Angela Slattery each had six points.
Jordan Zrust posted a game-high double-double of 35 points and 11 rebounds for MSU.
Dakota State was 33-of-68 overall from the field (48.5 percent) and 6-of-21 from the 3-point arc. Mayville State was 30-of-56 field goals (53.6 percent) and 7-of-18 3-pointers. The Trojans outrebounded the Comets 32-25, including 12-3 on the offensive boards. DSU also shutdown MSU 28-0 in bench points.
Dakota State stretched its winning streak to six games, raising their overall record to 6-3. Mayville State’s five-game winning streak came to an end, falling to 5-2 overall record. It was the eighth straight victory in the series meeting for DSU over MSU.
The Trojans take the week off until they return home next Sunday, November 27th, to start their two-game home stand, when they host Saint Xavier with a 1pm tip-off.
