Trojans Dominate the Saints in Opening Round of NSAA Tournament

In the opening round of the NSAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the Dakota State Trojans dismantled the Presentation Saints with a dominating 116-40 victory to move on to the semifinals.

The Trojans struck first with an early three from Morgan Huber to get things rolling. DSU scored the first nine points before PC hit a free throw. The Saints didn’t score their first point from the field until 4:11 left in the first quarter. 

DSU scored 32 and 33 points in each of the first two quarters to take a 65-13 lead into halftime. Elsie Aslesen and Huber both each outscored PC in the first half with both players scoring 16 points.

The third quarter was the highest scoring quarter for the Saints, scoring 16 points in the quarter, but with the Trojans adding 24 in the third and 27 more in the fourth, the Trojans finished with a 116-40 win against the Saints. 

Following the game, the Trojans ended this season 12-0 from the DSU Fieldhouse, and extended their winning streak to 14 straight as they get ready to play in the NSAA Semifinals from Watertown, SD.

The Trojans forced 27 Saints turnovers and turned those into 46 points. 19 of the Trojans forced turnovers came from steals. DSU was able to shoot 40-59 from the field and made 16 of their 28 three-pointers. The Saints, meanwhile, were only able to shoot 17-58 from the field and 1-9 from three-point range.

Every Trojans player scored, led by Aslesen’s game-leading 20 points, along with three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. She was perfect from the field, going 7-7. 

Huber finished with 19 points, hitting five of her seven three-point attempts, and had three steals. 

Other starters, Savannah Walsdorf and Courtney Menning had ten and eight points, respectively. They both had multiple steals as well, with Menning getting a game lead four steals and Walsdorf getting three. Walsdorf also had three rebounds, while Menning also had a game-lead seven assists.

Sidney Fick, off the bench, was one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 15 points and nine rebounds. She also added four blocks. Lilli Mackley had 14 points, going 3-4 from beyond the arc. 

Caitlin Dyer and Mikan Vincent each added eight points off the bench. Dyer also had four assists, and Vincent added four rebounds. Angela Slattery had five points, five rebounds, and five assists. 

Tabor Teel had four points and three rebounds, Kristine Binek had three points, hitting a three-pointer, and Brook Gunderson had two points and two steals.

Dakota State will play the winner of tonight’s Dickinson State v Valley City State game. The Trojans semifinal game this Saturday, February 25th, will tip-off from Watertown at 1pm. Game can be heard on FM 103.1 or online at AmazingMadison.com. Â