Tigers’ season ends in Yankton

YANKTON — The Mount Marty women’s basketball team made quick work of its opening round foe, cruising past Dakota Wesleyan 61-41 Tuesday in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament at Laddie E. Cimpl Arena.

Mount Marty continued its dominance over Dakota Wesleyan after beating DWU in the regular season twice. The first meeting was on Dec. 2 in Mitchell with the score ending 71-54 and Feb. 10 at home with the score ending 70-45.

“We were kind of concerned with them doing some non-traditional things on the defensive end,” Mount Marty head coach Tom Schlimgen said. “They did in the second half, doing a lot of trapping and double teaming and we were prepared for a little junk defense.”

The Lancers (20-9) achieved back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.

Mount Marty started the game with an 18-2 run, but DWU (8-23) went on a seven-point run to cut the deficit to nine points. The Lancers continued to take control, finishing the half with an 18-4 run. Mount Marty took a commanding 23-point lead going into the second half.

Jenny Miller outscored the Tigers in the first half, netting 15 of her 18 points.

The second half started out with each team going on little runs and trading points. The Tigers cut the deficit to 18, and that was the closest they came.

“We tried to set a few more ball screens and tried to get more things attacking the basket,” Dakota Wesleyan head coach Aaron Kahl saod. “We were able to get to the free-throw line better in the second half.”

Mount Marty shot 58 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game shooting 52 percent. DWU only shot 30 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game shooting 35 percent.

“We tried to put a little more pressure on them defensively,” Kahl said. “We have had trouble scoring the last three weeks, so tried to create some easy baskets.”

The Lancers caused 15 times first-half turnovers while turning the ball over only six times.

“The bottom line is keeping the floor spacing and making good decisions with the basketball,” Schlimgen said.

Miller also had four steals for MMC. Michelle Amundson supplied 14 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Kendra Schomer notched seven points. Cassie Neth played giver, dishing out eight assists, and had five rebounds. Kylie Gross had a strong game off the bench with eight points.

“We have some very good perimeter players that can put the ball on the floor,” Schlimgen said.

For the Tigers, Allison Johnson and Ashley Johnson each had 11 points. Allison Johnson added six rebounds and four steals. Ashley Mailey had a strong game off the bench with nine points and three rebounds, while Angela Noteboom supplied eight points.

This will likely be the final home for Mount Marty this year, but the road to the championship isn’t going to get any easier with second-seed Northwestern waiting Thursday in Orange City, Iowa.

MOUNT MARTY 61

DAKOTA WESLEYAN 41

Mount Marty (20-9)

Jenny Miller 8-12 2-3 18; Kendra Schomer 3-4 0-0 7; Michelle Amundson 5-9 0-0 14; Cassie Neth 1-4 0-0 3; Kelly Schilling 0-0 0-0 0; Paige Nelson 0-0 0-0 0; Tierney Schumacher 0-0 0-0 0; Alexa Berg 1-4 1-2 4; Taylor Forsch 2-2 0-0 5; Whitney Lickteig 1-1 0-0 2; Kellie Boer 0-0 0-0 0; Amanda Mentzer 0-0 0-0 0; Kylie Gross 3-9 2-2 8; Brittany Little 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-46 5-7 61.

Dakota Wesleyan (8-23)

Allison Johnson 4-8 2-4 11; Ashley Johnson 4-9 0-0 11; Ashley Pommer 0-3 0-0 0; Emily Bastian 0-3 0-0 0; Angela Noteboom 3-6 1-2 8; Jessica Bartscher 0-0 0-0 0; Kenzie Dvoracek 1-5 0-1 2; Brittany Hills 0-0 0-2 0; Hannah Downing 0-1 0-3 0; Ellie Peterson 0-4 0-0 0; Ashley Mailey 4-7 1-3 9; Marie Olson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-46 4-15 41.

Three-Pointers: MMC 8-16 (Miller 0-3, Schomer 1-1, Amundson 4-5, Neth 1-2, Berg 1-4, Forsch 1-1), DWU 5-20 (Allison Johnson 1-3, Ashley Johnson 3-7, Pommer 0-2, Noteboom 1-2, Dvoracek 0-2, Downing 0-1, Peterson 0-2, Mailey 0-1). Rebounds: MMC 30 (Neth 5), DWU (Bastian 7). Personal Fouls: MMC 15, DWU 10. Fouled Out: None. Assists: MMC 18 (Neth 8), DWU 7 (Peterson 2, Bastian 2). Blocked Shots: MMC 1 (Gross 1), DWU 0. Steals: MMC 10 (Miller 4), DWU 11 (Allison Johnson 4).

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