RAPID CITY, S.D. -- There would be no last-second win against South Dakota Mines this time.
The Dickinson State women's basketball team made sure of that.
Paced by a steady defense, the 12th-ranked Blue Hawks got an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Hardrockers 62-43 Friday night at the King Center in a Dakota Athletic Conference game.
"We defended like crazy today," DSU coach Guy Fridley said.
The Blue Hawks forced 22 turnovers and found balance on the offensive end.
ADVERTISEMENT
Senior Ashley Emmons led the way with a game-high 16 points while Kelsey Boedeker scored 13. Kia Herbel and Jennifer Marquez each had nine points and combined for 13 rebounds while keeping their minutes to a minimum.
DSU's post players need all the rest they can get as the team prepares for its game against Black Hills State this afternoon.
Friday night's win kept the Blue Hawks a half-game ahead of Black Hills State for first place in the DAC. The teams play at 4 p.m. today in Spearfish, S.D.
DSU is 17-5 overall and 8-1 in the DAC. The sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets are 19-5 on the season and 8-2 against conference opponents. DSU won 71-57 in their first meeting of the season on Jan. 9 at Scott Gymnasium.
"It sets up an extremely huge, huge game for us," Fridley said. "If we can win two, it's going to be an extremely big weekend."
The win over Mines (8-16, 4-6 DAC) couldn't have been too draining.
DSU was up 30-18 by halftime and maintained a sizeable lead throughout the game despite shooting just 35 percent from the field.
Holding Mines center Bethany Holyoak in check proved critical for DSU. Holyoak, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds in DSU's 59-58 last-second win on Jan. 10 at Scott Gym, was held to just two points and six rebounds.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Defensively is where we set the tone," Fridley said. "We had them flustered and that was the big key, our defensive effort."
Stephanie Bjustrom scored 11 points to lead Mines, which shot 33 percent from the field and was just 2 of 17 from beyond the 3-point line.
DICKINSON STATE (17-5, 8-1 DAC): Ashley Emmons 6-17 2-2 16, Kelsey Boedeker 3-8 4-4 13, Jennifer Marquez 4-7 1-1 9, Kia Herbel 3-6 3-6 9, Kelly Pankratz 3-7 0-0 6, Krystal Burns 1-2 2-2 4, Mindy Vanderpan 1-4 0-0 3, Staci Moore 1-2 0-0 2, Katie Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0, Ashlee Viveros 0-0 0-0 0, Kylee Bittner 0-0 0-0 0, Samantha Botsford 0-0 0-0 0, Dawn Boyd 0-0 0-0 0, Juanita Newsom 0-10 0-0 0. Totals: 22-63 12-15 62.
SOUTH DAKOTA MINES (8-16, 4-6 DAC): Stephanie Bjustrom 5-8 0-0 11, Jerika Ihnen 4-7 1-1 9, Loryn Schuetzle 1-5 5-6 7, Whitney Ashford 2-5 0-0 5, Leah Sundby 1-5 3-4 5, Jessica Tsignine 2-8 0-0 4, Bethany Holyoak 1-3 0-0 2, Cayla De George 0-1 0-0 0, Maria Luze 0-4 0-0 0, Nicole Martin 0-1 0-1 0, Natasha Begay 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-48 9-12 43.
Halftime: DSU 30, SDM 18. Total fouls: DSU 14, SDM 17. 3-point goals: DSU 6-22 (Pankratz 0-2, Vanderpan 1-4, Marquez 0-2, Emmons 2-6, Boedeker 3-7, Newsom 0-1), SDM 2-17 (De George 0-1, Bjustrom 1-2, Schuetzle 0-1, Luze 0-2, Tsignine 0-6, Ashford 1-4, Sundby 0-1). Rebounds: DSU 35 (Herbel 7), SDM 36 (Ihnen 9). Assists: DSU 12 (Boedeker 4), SDM 12 (Schuetzle 3, Ashford 3). Steals: DSU 11 (Marquez 3), SDM 6 (Schuetzle 3). Blocks: DSU 1 (Emmons), SDM 7 (Ehnen 4). Turnovers: DSU 13 (Pankratz 3), SDM 22 (Holyoak 6).
