Sports
Ladyjacks look to turn it around
Tyler Ohmann
02/25/2014
Three losses to tough MonDak opponents, including two at home closed the Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) women’s regular season this past week.
Last Monday the Ladyjacks fell 84-55 to North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS). They followed that with an 83-58 defeat at the hands of Lake Region State College (LRSC) in Devils Lake. They closed their regular season with a hard-fought 72-59 loss to Williston State College (WSC) on Sunday.
The losses not only dropped the Ladyjacks to 12-17 overall on the season, but also mean that DCB will have to play the first round of the Region XIII playoffs in Bismarck.
The Ladyjacks will open that with a game at 7 p.m. on Friday against Gogebic Community College. A win in that game will put DCB in the region title game at 5 p.m. on Saturday also in Bismarck.
First last Monday the Ladyjacks struggled in a home loss to NDSCS.
DCB struggled early on as the Wildcats built up a 17-3 lead early on. The Ladyjacks fought back and cut the deficit to four late in the first half, but a run by NDSCS extended that lead to nine at halftime.
NDSCS then started the second half on a 10-0 run, and the Ladyjacks were unable to recover.
“This was a very difficult night for us,” stated Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “We played 10 minutes of pretty good basketball but the remainder of the game we were dominated by the Wildcats.”
The Ladyjacks shot just 31 percent form the field, and were only 2-for-14 from beyond the arc in the loss.
“We took decent care of the basketball versus their pressure but really struggled shooting and rebounding the ball,” Johnson stated. “Their size and quickness did give us considerable trouble.”
Savannah Bruce had a strong night for DCB. The freshman had 19 points and nine rebounds as she was the only Ladyjack in double figures. Mary Jones had eight points and Dominique Staten had seven.
Again a tumultus second half for the Ladyjacks led to another big defeat against LRSC last Wednesday.
DCB led 9-2 early on, and led for most of the first half, but fell behind by two at halftime.
“We battled tonight and put together a pretty good first half against an excellent team,” Johnson stated. “I thought we did a good job of handling the ball and getting some pretty good looks at the basket.”
However, after the Ladyjacks started the second half by tying the game at 34, the Royals went on a 16-0 run, and DCB could not get back in the contest. They then ended up falling by 25.
“We were disappointed in the second half but came away believing if we can put together two halves in our playoffs like the first half tonight we will be in good shape,” Johnson stated.
Again DCB shot only 30 percent from the field, and were out rebounded 61-37. However, this time the Ladyjacks did shoot 50 percent from three point range.
Imani Scott had 20 points to lead all the Ladyjacks scorers and was 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Jones added 17 points and four assists. Sophomore Leah Parizek had a team-high seven rebounds.
Scott again fired up her offense last Sunday in a tough game against WSC. However, despite a nice run by the Ladyjacks where Scott scored 14 straight points that put DCB up by five in the second half, the run ended and the Teton earned a 13-point win.
“After a Teton time out they did a great job of locating her and making it difficult for her (Scott) to get a shot,” Johnson stated. “We struggled picking up the slack offensively and could not produce enough points to finish the game with a win.”
Scott finished with 29 points in a strong individual effort for DCB. Jones added nine points, seven rebounds and five assists in the losing effort for the Ladyjacks.
“Overall it was a disappointing loss in a game that held home court playoff significance but we did come away with some positives,” Johnson stated. “We need to carry that into playoffs and pick some more offensive production from our very capable players and we will be fine.”
The Ladyjacks hope to repeat last season, where they were able to top Gogebic for the Region XIII title.