Lady T's Start Fast, Hold On To Defeat Briar Cliff
By Sioux City Journal (Sioux City, IA) - Dakota State withstood a career high 30-point scoring outburst from Briar Cliff's Liz Grider in handing the Chargers an 81-75 setback in women's basketball Saturday at the Flanagan Center. Coach Mike Power's Chargers trailed 41-30 at halftime, but rallied in the second half, grabbing a brief lead at 67-66 on a short jumper by Grider with 2:05 left in the game. Two free throws by Dakota State's Tricia Boldt restored a 68-67 for the visitors, who led the rest of the way. Dakota State's final eight points in the game came from the free throw line.
Grider, a 5-11 junior transfer from NCAA Division II Southwest Minnesota State, sank 10 of her 22 shots from the field and converted on 10 of 11 free throws attempts. Megan Salcedo contributed 17 points to the Briar Cliff effort and also snared nine rebounds. Christa Stewart chipped in with 12 points for the Chargers and pulled down eight missed shots. All five Dakota State starters hit double figure scoring led by Dayna Tschakert's 19-point effort. Alyssa Kirk, sinking five three-pointers, added 17 points for the visitors from Madison, S.D.
Dakota State, which reached the second round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament last year, connected on 27 of 56 shots and Briar Cliff hit 27 of its 67 shots from the field. Boldt pulled down 13 rebounds to stake the Lady T's to a 48-38 rebounding advantage. Dakota State, which lost all five starters on last year's national tourney club to graduation, improved its record to 3-5 under new coach Joe Reints. Megan Swecker, the leading Dakota State scorer with a 15.3 average, was limited to 11 before fouling out.
