Hardrockers rally to defeat DSU women

• Jordyn Bender

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson State freshman Jordyn Bender, right, puts up a shot as South Dakota Mines junior Heather Ritchey jumps in to defend during a women’s basketball game on Saturday night at Scott Gymnasium.

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The South Dakota Mines women’s basketball team controlled the boards and, in turn, the outcome of Saturday afternoon’s game.

The Hardrockers used a momentous second half to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit and defeat Dickinson State 74-68 at Scott Gymnasium.

“We went into the locker room (at the half) up nine points,” DSU junior guard Yianna Nadeau said. “The big thing was is that weren’t getting our offensive boards down. Everybody played hard, but it’s the little things that took a toll.”

Mines outrebounded DSU 50-27, splitting its glass-cleaning efforts evenly with 25 offensive and 25 defensive boards, which created multiple scoring chances on several possessions.

“I think the offensive boards helped tremendously,” Mines head coach Barb Felderman said. “We knew it was going to be a physical game, but not the extreme it was.”

The Hardrockers (8-7) started the second half on a 17-4 run and a 3-pointer by Ariel Granillo tied the game at 43 less than 5 minutes into the half.

“They capitalized on a lot of our errors, especially in the first five minutes of the second half,” DSU head coach Andre Goldberg said. “They got a lot of layups and brought a little bit more pressure.”

After Mines took a 49-43 lead, the teams traded points. The Blue Hawks cut the Hardrockers’ lead to two points three times.

However, DSU (7-13) was never able to regain the lead in the second half.

Mandy Mullock made five key free throws down the stretch to bring DSU within two, 70-68. Mullock ended with 11 points.

Mines’ leading scorer, Hillary Hawkins, nailed four straight free throws to seal the win. Hawkins finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Katie Strandholm added 16 points for the Hardrockers while playing limited playing minutes because of foul trouble.

The Blue Hawks created a large lead in the first half after going 8 of 14 (57 percent) from 3-point range. DSU made its first five 3-pointers of the game.

“(On Friday against Black Hills State) we didn’t have a great shooting performance,” said Nadeau, who had 13 points. “Tonight it helped a lot, but you can’t do much if you don’t do anything on the defensive side. Defense wins games.”

DSU’s guard Kylee Bittner fired up her team, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the first half and finishing with 13 points.

The Blue Hawks started the first half on a 17-8 run. Bittner and Jordyn Bender lit up the scoreboard in the first eight minutes of the game. Bender came off the bench to add a team-high 15 points.

“We came out really well,” Goldberg said. “We just can’t let our offense dictate our defense. I thought since we were hitting shots to start the game, we played really good defense. Once our shots were falling, our defense kind of took a backseat.”

A full-court pass from Jessica Nieves to Bender for an easy layup created DSU’s largest lead of the game, 25-10. Mines responded with a timeout.

DSU finished the first half on a 14-20 run and took a 39-30 lead.

The Blue Hawks travel to Valley City to play Jamestown College in the Dakota Athletic Conference Tip-off Tournament at 5 p.m. Saturday.

“We are going to fight ’til the end no matter what our record is,” Goldberg said. “… We owe our seniors and everybody else on our team. Hopefully the cards fall in our favor.”

SOUTH DAKOTA MINES (8-7): Hillary Hawkins 5-14 5-6 16, Katie Strandholm 8-16 0-0 16, Ariel Granillo 4-5 1-1 11, Justine Blade 3-11 3-6 9, Shalane Hampp 3-10 3-4 9, Janelle Strampe 1-1 4-4 6, Alexia Mader 1-5 3-4 5, Renae Waters 1-2 0-1 2, Jordan Needens 0-1 0-0 0, Heather Ritchey 0-1 0-0 0, Mackenzie Kenney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-66 19-26 74.

DICKINSON STATE (7-13): Jordyn Bender 6-14 1-1 15, Kylee Bittner 4-8 1-3 13, Yianna Nadeau 4-7 4-5 13, Mandy Mullock 3-4 5-6 11, Jessica Nieves 3-7 1-1 7, Ashley Jelly 2-5 0-1 5, Jenna Cabello 1-2 0-0 2, Devan Koch 1-1 0-1 2, Janae Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Kersten Jaramillo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-49 12-18 68.

Halftime: DSU 39-30. Total fouls: SDM 20, DSU 21. 3-point goals: SDM 3-19 (Granillo 2-3, Hawkins 1-7, Hampp 0-4, Mader 0-4, Strandholm 0-1), DSU 8-18 (Bittner 4-8, Bender 2-8, Nadeau 1-2, Jelly 1-3). Rebounds: SDM 50 (Blade 11), DSU 27 (Nadeau 6). Assists: SDM 14 (Hampp 8), DSU 15 (Nieves 4). Steals: SDM 7 (Hampp 2), DSU 7 (Bender 2). Blocks: SDM 0, DSU 0. Turnovers: SDM 12 (Granillo 3, Kenney 3), DSU 13 (Nieves 4).

Tags: blue hawks, dsu blue hawks, college basketball, south dakota mines, sports, hardrockers