Sports
Ladyjacks take two at Baymont Classic
Tyler Ohmann
11/19/2013
The Ladyjacks had lost their last three games, so a weekend sweep at the Baymont Classic in Wahpeton was much needed.
Dakota College at Bottineau dominated with a 79-25 win over Free Lutheran Bible College (FLBC) and a 73-39 win over Hibbing Community College (HCC).
On Saturday the Ladyjacks took down the Conquerors of FLBC easily thanks to a lot of sources on both offense and defense.
“This was a good win that came at the right time. We had our best shooting performance of the season shooting over 50 percent from the field,” stated Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “We also shot the ball well from the three point line and the free throw line.”
DCB held the Conquerors to 13 points in the first half and only 12 points in the second half, and out rebounded them 43-28.
Leading the Ladyjacks was freshman Savannah Bruce who had 19 points and nine rebounds. Mary Jones added 10 points and five assists, while Haley Sabe had nine points in the victory.
Even though the Ladyjacks dominated, there were still things that Johnson thought could be improved.
“One area we need to clean up is the number of turnovers we committed (20) versus a defense that does not pressure,” Johnson stated. “Many of those turnovers were trying to make things happen in a hurry. They are correctable.”
DCB went on to another dominating win on Sunday with a 73-39 victory over HCC.
The Ladyjacks were quick out of the gate on Sunday as they led 15-0 early on. However, things slowed down and they only led 32-18 at halftime. In the second half DCB put the petal to the floor and cruised to 41 second-half points and a 34-point win.
“We regrouped at half time and put together a solid effort,” Johnson stated. “We didn’t shoot as well as yesterday but did take good percentage shots.”
The Ladyjacks had a strong night on the glass as they had 54 rebounds and 24 of them were on the offensive side of the ball.
Again Bruce was instrumental in the victory with 18 points and six boards. Shikaya Chase played for the first time this weekend coming off an injury. She had eight rebounds to lead DCB in that category.
“Combining our offensive rebounding and ball security we had 27 more opportunities to score than our opponent,” Johnson stated. “We will win a lot of games with that kind of body of work.”
Johnson was happy with the weekend’s performance.
“Overall it was a very good weekend for the Ladyjacks,” Johnson stated. “We picked up two wins, got good contributions from the entire roster and made some good progress in a number of areas.”
DCB also played one game last Monday night as they hosted a strong Dawson Community College (DCC) team.
The Buccaneers jumped out to an early lead and led 47-32 at halftime. Both defenses clamped down in the second half, but it was the Bucs that did the best job and came away with a 77-55 victory over the home Ladyjacks.
“It’s always tough to lose, particularly on your home court, but I thought we had a much improved effort over what we had on the weekend,” Johnson stated. “I thought we competed for the 40 minutes and that’s the most important quality we want our team to possess.”
DCB was out rebounded 53-34 in the contest and shot only 4-of-23 from beyond the arc.
Tiffany Bradford was their leader on offense with 11 points. Dominique Staten had 10 points and three steals, while Tessa Walters grabbed a team-best nine boards.
“Dawson has their best team since I have been with the Ladyjacks so we certainly had to deal with tough competition,” Johnson stated. “We worked hard defensively but need to improve our help positioning. We had too many times where we failed or were late helping each other out.”
“That didn’t happen because of lack of effort, we just are not reacting quick enough to the action yet,” Johnson added.
The Ladyjacks improved to 4-3 with the pair of wins over the weekend.
They will play twice this upcoming weekend as part of the first ever Cobblestone Classic. They will then host Northland Community College at 6 p.m. on Friday, and Trinity Bible College at 4 p.m. on Saturday.