DWU fights off pesky Doane College 81-69

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(Luke Hagen/Republic) DWU's Celeste Beck goes up for a shot over a Doane defender during a GPAC women's basketball game Saturday at the Corn Palace.

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Behind 23 points from Kim Johnson and 18 from Liz Lamb, the Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball team fought off pesky Doane College 81-69 Saturday at the Corn Palace.

Winless in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, Doane College stuck with the Tigers for nearly the entire game. But the Tigers kept their offense rolling and pulled away for their 10th win of the season. Wesleyan is now 10-4 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

“You never know if they’re going to hang with you or not,” Lamb said of Doane, which is 5-9 overall and 0-7 in the league. “We knew they were going to be hungry. … I think they bring it every game they play.”

Doane has shown it can hang with the GPAC’s best this season, falling to sixth-ranked Briar Cliff by only six points earlier this season.

Saturday, DWU looked as if it would start pulling away early. The Tigers led by seven points at the 12:30 mark, but Doane continued to creep back by knocking down jumpers and getting inside for close looks.

Doane shot 52 percent from the field in the first half but trailed 41-36 at the break.

“I thought we started OK offensively,” DWU coach Jason Christensen said. “Defensively, we just were half a step behind. The second half, our defense was a lot better.”

Doane shot 39 percent from the field in the second half. Although Wesleyan never gave up its lead, Doane kept the game within reach but couldn’t stop Johnson, a forward, inside the paint.

Her three-point play with 2:27 to go put the Tigers up 71-60 and Wesleyan hit eight of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.

Katie Johnson had 13 points and Celeste Beck added 11 for the Tigers, who have won two straight conference games after losing to two of the top three rated teams in the nation, Concordia and Morningside, last week.

“It wasn’t easy losing two games in a row and then turning around and playing two GPAC teams,” said Christensen, whose team defeated Mount Marty 70-66 Wednesday. “The kids showed a lot of heart and effort this week, I thought.”

Doane’s Hannah Dostal was 8-of-11 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line to lead her team with 23 points.

Wesleyan gets a break from its GPAC schedule until the new year. The Tigers’ next game is Thursday when they travel to Wisconsin Dells, Wis., to play Ashford University. On Friday, DWU plays Lakeland College in Wisconsin.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 81, DOANE COLLEGE 69

DWU (10-4, 4-3 GPAC)

Elizabeth Lamb 5-8 4-4 18, Taylor Piper 2-9 2-3 6, Amanda Hart 1-3 0-0 3, Brittany Hills 1-1 5-6 7, Kim Johnson 9-14 5-7 23, Lexie Christensen 0-0 0-0 0, Celeste Beck 3-9 3-4 11, Katie Johnson 5-6 3-5 13. Totals: 26-50 22-29 81.

DC (5-9, 0-7 GPAC)

Shelbi Bittinger 3-5 0-0 9, Cali Bellar 4-9 0-0 10, Hannah Dostal 8-11 7-7 23, Savannah Lohmeier 1-4 0-0 3, Brittany Luettel 0-6 2-4 2, Jackie Allgood 1-4 0-2 2, Jamie Kennedy 1-4 0-2 3, Erin DeVries 0-1 0-0 0, Heather Broman 6—9 5-6 17, Alyssa Willicott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-53 14-19 69.

Halftime: DWU 41-36. 3-point goals: DWU 7-14 (Lamb 4, Beck 2, Hart 1), DC 7-18 (Bittinger 3, Bellar 2, Lohmeier 1, Kennedy 1). Rebounds: DWU 29 (Kim Johnson 9), DC 30 (Bittinger 7, Lohmeier 7). Assists: DWU 17 (Piper 5), DC 15 (Luettel 4). Turnovers: DWU 10, DC 15. Total fouls: DWU 14, DC 24. Fouled out: Dostal, DC. Technical fouls: None.

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