First quarter makes difference as Tigers fall to No. 12 Briar Cliff
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball team battled back on the road following a slow start, but the opening quarter proved to be the difference of the game.
The Tigers fell to No. 12 Briar Cliff on Tuesday night 89-80 at the Newman Flanagan Center in a Great Plains Athletic Conference contest.
Despite out-rebounding the Chargers 36-25 and outscoring them 50-22 in the paint, DWU committed 15 turnovers and allowed 20 points off of them. The Tigers also shot a season-low 33.3% from the 3-point line, having shot 43.8% in their four prior games.
Following a layup inside from Emma Yost to open the game for DWU, Briar Cliff began a 24-2 scoring run on a Payton Slaughter three-point play. The Tigers’ only points during the run came on a pair of free throws by Yost, as the Chargers held them off the scoreboard for almost four minutes before Yost found the basket again. She had a game-high 24 points along with six rebounds.
Coming out of halftime, DWU chipped away at a 56-41 lead for Briar Cliff. The defense held the Chargers (7-0, 3-0 GPAC) to 7-of-23 from the field in the second half. Rylee Rosenquist helped lead the charge, scoring eight of her 10 points off the bench in the third quarter. Yost’s layup off the assist from Shaylane Nagel cut the lead to single digits with 4:12 remaining in the third.
In the fourth quarter, Morgan Edelman found Rosenquist underneath to make it a three-point game with 7:33 to go, with the Chargers up 74-71. It was as close as the Tigers came, as foul trouble late allowed Briar Cliff to pull away at the end.
Edelman collected nine points and a game-high nine rebounds on the night. Grace Fryda scored 11 points, going 3-of-7 from behind the arc, as the Tigers bench scored 50 of the team’s 80 points put up against the Chargers. Lacy Sprakel also recorded 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
DWU (3-2, 2-1 GPAC) returns to the floor Saturday to face NCAA Division II Augustana in Sioux Falls for an exhibition game at noon. The Tigers return to GPAC action Nov. 29 at the Corn Palace against Jamestown at 6 p.m.
