South Dakota Tech capitalized on Dickinson State's suddenly cold shooting late in the second half by making almost all of its free throws.
The Blue Hawks had used 3-pointers and pinpoint shooting most of the second half to climb back within two points, but couldn't get anything to fall in the final minutes.
Tech came away with a 83-74 Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball victory on Saturday afternoon at Scott Gymnasium.
Tech shot 33 of 37 from the free-throw line. The Hardrockers were 22 of 24 in the second half.
"We really work on that aspect of the game," Tech coach Barb Felderman said.
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DSU slowly chipped away at Tech's lead - which never reached more than 10 points until late in the game when the Blue Hawks began fouling intentionally - on great second-half shooting by Brittany Mesa.
The 5-foot-11 junior forward scored 16 of her game-high 19 points after the 14-minute mark of the second half, canning three of her four 3-pointers along the way.
"We started to do things we knew worked," Mesa said. "It was more team basketball during that half."
Tech had a 47-38 lead until Mesa came off the bench and caught fire.
She helped bring the Blue Hawks within two points on a couple occasions.
Elise Daughton connected on a post-up shot for her only points of the game to bring DSU within 67-65 with 3:12 remaining.
"We can't ask anything better than getting the great looks we did in the last 15 minutes," DSU coach Guy Fridley said.
Jennie Malone and Amber DeWeerd, who each had 17 points for the Hardrockers, had back-to-back buckets in the paint to stretch Tech's lead to 71-65 over the next two minutes.
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Then, the Hardrockers caught fire from the line. Tech made all 12 of its free-throw attempts in the final 1:15.
"We've got to evaluate what we're doing," Fridley said. "I think we're slapping a lot and trying to get steals."
Tech guard Melanie Vedvie led the Hardrockers from the line, going 9 of 10. She finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but turned the ball over 10 times.
"Our conference is so close this year, a lot of games are going to come down to that," Vedvie said. "We've put an emphasis on that this year."
While DSU (5-21, 2-11 DAC) is locked into the eighth spot with only Minot State left to play in the regular season, South Dakota Tech still has a shot at a home playoff game.
They improved to 17-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference.
"Obviously, everyone's looking to get that last one and solidify something," Felderman said. "I have no idea how it's going to pan out."
