Jackets use big 2nd half to beat DSU

• Janae Moore

Dickinson State sophomore Janae Moore, right, goes to the hoop against Black Hills State junior Calli Bechtel on Saturday night during a nonconference women's basketball game at Scott Gymnasium.

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Black Hills State didn’t allow a halftime deficit, an injury to its starting point guard and early foul trouble deter it from the task at hand.

The task was winning, and in the second half, there was little the Dickinson State women’s basketball team could do to stop the Yellow Jackets.

Chelsey Biegler scored 19 of her game-high 35 points in the second half as BHSU racked up 57 points after halftime en route to an 82-60 nonconference win over DSU on Saturday at Scott Gymnasium.

“They took it to us in the second half and we didn’t respond very well,” DSU head coach Caleb Harrison said. “They came out as the aggressor. We needed to come out as the aggressor. You have a four-point lead at the half and that’s the time we talk about putting the pressure on the other team.

“We didn’t do that tonight. Black Hills did a great job of making adjustments in the second half.”

The Blue Hawks went into halftime with a 29-25 lead after a solid defensive first half. Despite shooting 29 percent in the first half, the Blue Hawks controlled the tempo and forced BHSU into tough shots.

“We came out and we were ready to go,” DSU junior guard Mariah Duran said. “When our defense is on, we do really good things. That was our problem in the second. We came out and our defense was just not there.”

Duran was correct as the Yellow Jackets (1-1) went on a 12-2 run to start the second half. Biegler, a sophomore guard, said the team was pleased with the strong second-half performance.

“We were extremely happy,” Biegler said. “That’s how we’re used to playing.”

However, Biegler wasn’t the only player to rip the Blue Hawks (2-1) for double-digit points in the second half.

Bailey Kussler added 14 points and Dakota Barrie added 13 in the second half. Kussler played a majority of the game after senior point guard Lindsey Fearing went down with a left knee injury in the first half. Kussler finished with 16 points and Barrie had 15.

“We really came together and we controlled the tempo,” Nore said. “I thought we controlled our spots. We played stronger and with more assurance. I thought our second half was pretty good.”

The Yellow Jackets didn’t want Fearing’s injury to be the defining moment of the game. Biegler, who was 11 of 12 from the free-throw line, said it was all about winning the game for their point guard.

“You can’t get down about an injury,” she said. “Our team looks as we need to fight for her now. It’s not somebody gets hurt and we all give up. If somebody gets hurt, we all fight for her.”

Sophomore forward Janae Moore led the Blue Hawks with 16 points, while Duran added 15. Ashley Jelly also scored nine points on three 3-pointers.

“We’ve got a great offense when we play defense,” Harrison said. “You could see that in the first half. When we don’t play defense, our offense is going to struggle.”

In the first half, DSU appeared to have the backbreaker after Duran and Jelly hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The treys and a Duran lay-up gave the Blue Hawks their biggest lead of the game at 29-19.

“(Jelly) and I have clicked from the beginning,” Duran said. “We just know that we are the shooters and we both want to be on.”

Going forward, DSU sees the second half of the game as a lessoned learned. Harrison said it is now a matter of fixing the mistakes and preparing to host the South Dakota School Mines at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

“We can take a lot out of it,” he said. “We’re going to learn a lot. I think you can learn a lot of winning, but sometimes you have to feel the pain of losing. The returners know what that feeling is like. We just have to have a great week of practice and be ready next Friday for South Dakota Mines.

“We’re going to learn from it and we never want to get a lead taken away from us again,” Duran added. “When we play well the first half, we want the second half to be just the same.”

BHSU (1-1): Cassidy Kotelman 1-4 0-0 2, Lowgan Cowan 2-4 1-2 5, Lindsey Fearing 2-6 0-0 4, Chelsey Biegler 11-19 11-12 35, Dakota Barrie 3-6 9-14 15, Katherine Drake 0-1 5-6 5, Bailey Kusser 6-8 3-4 16, Calli Bechtel 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 25-51 29-38 82.

DSU (2-1): Dawne Degel 2-8 0-1 6, Janae Moore 6-14 4-6 16, Jess Bygate 3-8 0-0 6, Mariah Duran 5-14 2-4 15, Ashley Jelly 3-11 0-0 9, Lorna Shepherd 2-5 0-0 4, Jordyn Bender 0-0 0-1 0, Lesina Manautu 0-6 0-0 0, Jenna Cabello 0-3 2-2 2, Jaylyn Klauzer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 22-71 8-14 60.

Halftime: DSU 29-25. Total fouls: BHSU 20, DSU 27. Fouled out: BHSU (Cowan), DSU (Bygate, Jelly). 3-point goals: BHSU 3-15 (Fearing 0-3, Biegler 2-7, Barrie 0-1, Drake 0-1, Kusser 1-1, Bechtel 1-2), DSU 8-30 (Degel 2-5, Moore 0-1, Duran 3-8, Jelly 3-10, Shepherd 0-2, Manautu 0-4). Rebounds: BHSU 40 (Kotelman 9), DSU 27 (Degel 8). Assists: BHSU 10 (Kotelman 4), DSU 14 (Duran 4). Steals: BHSU 7 (Kusser 3), DSU 9 (Degel 2, Duran 2, Jelly 2). Blocks: BHSU 3, DSU 2 (Degel 2). Turnovers: BHSU 23 (Biegler 6, Barrie 6, Bechtel 6), DSU 22 (Moore 4, Bygate 4, Duran 4).

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