Lady T's Rally Fall Short in DAC Conference Opener
By Jake Nordbye, Rapid City Journal (Rapid City, SD) - The South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball team snapped a five-game slide, winning their season-opening Dakota Athletic Conference game, 74-71, over Dakota State on Friday night at the King Center. In a game that came down to the last shot, a Dakota State Hail Mary from almost half court fell short. The Hard Rockers saw a 11-point first half lead disappear. Midway through the second half trailing. However, Mines went on to ice a few clutch free throws down the stretch and broke down the Dakota State full court press for a few late layups as they earned a much needed victory.
"It's a win," said Mines head coach Barb Felderman, "I thought we had a nice team effort when it came down to it. We ran the offense and got the points we needed at the end." Dakota State got a heavy dose of the Hardrocker's junior center, Bethany Holyoak, who had a game-high 23 points, including two key buckets and six points at the line late in the game. Holyoak went 8-for-12 from the field and had six rebounds.
Mines jumped out to a 15-4 lead to start the game and took a comfortable 37-24 lead at halftime, but Dakota State was resilient, shooting 40 percent from the field in the second half, and hitting some key shots from outside the arc. The Lady T's had all five starters score in double figures and were led by Katie Bourk who had a team high 21 points. "They hit some great shots out there. We were very tentative offensively and were scared to turn the ball over," said Felderman. "We're just too hesitant and think too much, but that is something that can be rectified."
After Bourk hit a three to tie the game at 67-67 with just over two minutes left in the game the momentum seemed to be swinging Dakota State's way. However, Holyoak pounded out a couple of hardnosed baskets in the paint, and a scrappy defense forced a three key turnovers as Mines took a 72-69 advantage. Bourk drove the length of the floor and through the Mines defense for a layup to cut the lead to one with 35 seconds remaining. The Rockers iced it by breaking down the press for an easy layup at the other end by Ariel Granillo. Granillo added 16 points off the bench for the Rockers, and Stephanie Bjustrom chipped in 12 points.
"We came out and had great energy tonight, and ran things very well," said Felderman. "Now we have to move forward against Mayville State who will come ready to play. The DAC is very evenly matched."
