On paper, the next two games don't appear too difficult for the Dickinson State women's basketball team.
After all, Dakota State and Mayville State accounted for the Blue Hawks' two most lopsided Dakota Athletic Conference victories of the season when the teams visited Scott Gymnasium in late January.
Now, going into this weekend's final regular-season games against the two, the 12th-ranked Blue Hawks need a pair of road victories in order to lock up their first DAC championship since sharing it with the University of Mary in 2003, not to mention the coveted No. 1 seed that gives them home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament.
Beating two teams with eight combined wins shouldn't be too hard for the Blue Hawks (19-6, 10-2 DAC). Right?
"They're never easy," DSU coach Guy Fridley said. "Any time you go on the road in this conference, anything can happen, especially with tams looking to knock off the top tier teams. They want to win as bad as we do."
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Dakota State (7-19, 3-9 DAC) has won five of its games at home and all of Mayville State's (4-21, 1-11) victories have come on their home court, including its 77-66 victory over Dakota State on Feb. 11 that snapped a 16-game losing skid.
Fridley hopes instilling a competitive attitude in the Blue Hawks can keep them from getting upset when they visit Mayville State tonight and Dakota State on Thursday.
"That's one thing we talked about (Monday) and after the game on Saturday," Fridley said. "We put ourselves in a position that we want to be in, so let's not overlook this next week and let that (a conference championship) get taken away from us.
"I think we're certainly determined and excited about what lies ahead of us in the next two games."
After that, the Blue Hawks will more than likely be facing one of the teams again at 2 p.m. Sunday in the DAC tournament quarterfinals at Scott Gymnasium.
With the conference tournament and a possible spot in the NAIA Division II national tournament on the horizon, Fridley said he feels good about the way the Blue Hawks are playing as they enter the most important part of their season.
"We've got a combination of scoring inside and out, and that's what's going to win your ball games," Fridley said.
A win would lock up
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No. 2 seed for DSU men
While the DSU women's basketball team is looking to seal a regular-season conference championship today and Thursday, the Blue Hawks' men's basketball team is hoping to hold strong as the DAC's No. 2 seed.
Having lost four of their last five games, the Blue Hawks (15-11, 8-4 DAC) need to beat either Dakota State or Mayville State in order to lock themselves into the No. 2 seed in the DAC tournament.
Minot State, South Dakota Mines and Valley City State each have six conference losses this season while fifth-ranked Black Hills State (22-4, 11-1 DAC) locked up an outright conference title when Jamestown College beat DSU 74-73 on Saturday night.
