Sports

Mystics hold off surging Ladyjacks in Bismarck

By Tyler Ohmann

01/14/2014

The Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) women’s basketball team opened their conference season this past week against Bismarck State College (BSC).

The Ladyjacks and Mystics enjoyed a see-saw battle that eventually swung the way of BSC in a 72-70 Mystics win.

“We fought and played with great energy but we just could not get it done in the end,” stated Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “It’s tough to lose these types of games, especially MonDak games.”

The Ladyjacks started things out strong as they pulled out to a 20-10 lead in the first part of the first half. However, the Mystics went on a strong run to close out the half and cut that deficit to two with seven minutes left, and then pulled ahead on a 27-13 run to lead by 12 at the break.

DCB then trailed 68-54 in the second half, but made a strong 16-4 run to push within a basket late.

“We had a game-tying three pointer rim out, a second three fall short, and then had another chance at the free throw line with 4.8 seconds remaining,” Johnson stated. “Savannah (Bruce) made the first free throw to cut the lead to two. We got the offensive rebound from her intentional miss on the second free throw with a shot to tie but the Mystics came up with a big block to seal their victory.”

The Ladyjacks leaders were the combination of freshmen Imani Scott and Bruce. The pair combined for 40 points (28 for Scott and 22 for Bruce) and Bruce also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Scott nabbed three steals.

“In spite of the loss I was very pleased with the ladies tonight. We played pretty well for 30 minutes and really battled back when we were down,” Johnson stated. “We were fortunate that the Mystics had a tough time from the three point arc but we would like to attribute some of that to a good team defensive effort at contesting and rushing their three’s.”

One other Ladyjack was in double figures and that was Mary Jones with 10 points. Both Shikaya Chase and Leah Parizek grabbed eight rebounds, and Parizek finished with a team-best five assists.

“We were disappointed however in our defensive rebounding effort and our ball security, especially at the end of the first half,” Johnson stated.

DCB was out rebounded 58-47 in the game and turned the ball over 22 times, while they forced 13 turnovers.

DCB dropped to 9-8 on the season following the loss.

“I do believe however that we learned a good deal in the contest,” Johnson stated. “It will make us tougher and hopefully more successful down the road.”

The Ladyjacks took on another rival last night in Region XIII rival United Tribes Community College, but scores and stats were unavailable by press time.

“We have our biggest game of the year coming up on Monday when we take on United Tribes in a MonDak game,” Johnson stated last week. “The significance is they are a Region XIII opponent and this will be a big determiner in who hosts the Region XIII playoffs.”