Trojans Force Season-High Steals at Home in Ag Ball

Dakota State outscored Presentation 41-9 in points off turnovers and 22-5 in second chance points, rolling to their season-high ninth straight victory with an 81-51 NSAA women’s basketball contest Friday evening at DSU Fieldhouse. The contest was also the fourth annual Ag Ball contest by the DSU Athletics department.

Both teams struggled offensively early on after the Trojans got out to the early 4-0 lead. With DSU up 8-4, they went on a 10-0 scoring run to end the first quarter up 18-4.

DSU continued to grow their lead in the second quarter, continuing to build on their run to get up 24-4. With the Trojans up 42-12, the Saints try to get so momentum going with a 7-2 run heading into halftime.

The Trojans led 44-19 at the half. The Trojans outscored the Saints 32-5 in points off turnovers in the first twenty minutes.

The Trojans would maintain a lead of 25 points or more for the rest of the game, with their biggest lead coming at 75-43 late in the fourth quarter. The final score was 81-51, Trojans. 

Courtney Menning and  Sidney Fick led Dakota State’s balanced scoring attack with 14 points each. Elsie Aslesen added 11 points. Olivia Ritter scored 10 points off the bench. Lilli Mackley had nine points. Savannah Walsdorf tallied eight points.

Mackley led the Trojans with eight rebounds. Walsdorf and Aslesen each added six rebounds.  Aslesen registered four blocks. Dyer and Fick each pulled down five rebounds. 

Menning contributed four assists and stole the ball a season-high seven times for DSU. Angela Slattery had a career-high six steals.  Fick had three steals. 

Ogitchida led the Saints with 10 points and dished out a game-high six assists. 

Dakota State shot 35.6 percent overall from the field (26-of-73 field goals) compared to Presentation 43.1 percent (22-of-51 field goals). The Trojans also forced Presentation to 35 turnovers in the game and  registered a season-high 25 steals.

The Trojans have a 9-0 record at home this season, and they earned their ninth straight victory in the series meeting with PC, their 24th win in the last 28 meetings in what could be the last-ever meeting between both teams.

Dakota State raised their overall record to 19-5 and 9-1 NSAA conference record. Presentation dropped their 13th straight game, falling to 1-20 overall record and 0-10 record in the league.

The Trojans wrap up their season-high four-game home stand this afternoon when hosts Mayville State. Both teams with a 9-1 record in the North Star contests, meaning it will be the battle of the top two teams in the league. Tip-off is at 3pm from the DSU Fieldhouse, and the game can be heard on FM 103.1 or online at AmazingMadison.com.