Trojan Women Struggle During Break, Drop Record to 5-9

As the rest of the students were getting a nice break from school, the DSU Lady Trojans were hard at work. During this span they played 10 games, 4 of these games were exhibition games so they didn’t go on their record. Dakota State went 2-4 in those non-exhibition games.

The first game for the Coach Dittman and the Lady Trojans was against in-state rival Mount Marty. The women fell short in a 66-60 loss to the Lancers. The highlight for DSU was that junior Alyson Drooger set the school record for most blocks in a single with 11, taking the record from Maria Gengler, who had 10 blocks versus Peru State on Dec. 1, 2006. Drooger was also just one rebound away from a triple-double, finishing the night with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Julie Munson had a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards and Kylie Westover finished the game with 9 points. Cassie Jacobsen added eight points. Yui Onodera and Courtney Hulstein each had 3 assists. Dakota State shot 41% overall from the field.

Next for the Trojans was an exhibition game against the NCAA Division 1 USD Coyotes. The Coyotes defeated the Lady T’s 90-35 in a very high paced game. Alyson Drooger had a double-double of 12 points and came down with 11 rebounds. She also had six blocks in the game. Drooger gave out 3 assists. Westover scored eight points. South Dakota shot 47.4% overall from the field in comparison to the Lady T’s 24.5%. USD also won the rebounding battle 52-31 in the game.

The third game for the Dakota State University was against Minnesota-Morris, where the Lady T’s beat the Cougars 66-49, ending a two game losing streak. Alyson Drooger recorded another double-double of 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Drooger had 3 blocks. Kylie Westover scored 17 points. Courtney Hamblin earned 13 points. Yui Onodera handed out a game-high 8 assists. Brittany Rosberg recorded 8 rebounds for DSU. Cassie Jacobsen and Julie Munson each added seven rebounds for the Lady T’s. DSU shot 43.8% from the field and improved their record to 4-6.

The Lady T’s then took on #6 Briar Cliff at the DSU Fieldhouse. The Trojans fell to the Chargers 91-74. Kylie Westover scored 22 points and came up with 3 steals for the Lady T’s. Cassie Jacobsen chipped in 17 points. Yui Onodera and Julie Munson each had 8 points. Alyson Drooger handed out 6 assists and recorded 4 blocked shots and pulled down 7 boards. Dakota State University shot 49.1% in the game as their record fell to 4-7.

DSU then had another exhibition game against Minnesota State Mankato where they lost to the Mavericks 85-42, but the game did not count as a lost for the Lady T’s. Hamblin led Dakota State with 10 points. Cassie Jacobsen scored 8 points. Kylie Westover chipped in 7 points and came down with 5 rebounds. Jacobsen, Alyson Drooger and Westover dished out 2 assists each. Lady T’s shot 32% from the field. The Mavericks out-rebounded the Trojans 48-35.

The Lady T’s followed with another exhibition game against former foe University of Mary. The Marauders never trailed in their 108-37 game win. Courtney Hulstein earned eight points off the bench for DSU. Drooger came up with 6 points. She had 6 rebounds and also had 8 blocked shots in the game. Cassie Jacobsen and Kylie Westover each scored 6 points. Mary shot 63.6% overall from the field compared to the Lady T’s 26.2%.

Dakota State came back home to the Fieldhouse with 80-68 loss to Midland Warriors, dropping the Trojans recorded to 4-8. Alyson Drooger put up 14 points for the Lady T’s. She recorded 6 rebounds, handed out 4 assists and recorded 6 blocked shots. Cassie Jacobsen and Kylie Westover each scored 13 points and dished out 4 assists. The Lady T’s were 42.4% from the field.

The Lady T’s came up short after a vicious late-game rally by being down twenty-five points to Dordt Defenders in the first half. Dakota State came up short 81-79 moving their record to 4-9 in the NAIA. Westover scored a game-high 28 points with 18 of those points coming from the 3 point line. Alyson Drooger was good for 17 points. Cassie Jacobsen scored 14 points. Courtney Hamblin chipped in 8 points off the bench. Courtney Hulstein earned 6 boards for DSU. Drooger added 5 rebounds and also recorded 4 blocked shots. Hulstein and Hamblin each dished out 4 assists for the Lady T’s. The Lady T’s made 47.5% of their shots from the field. Dakota State dished out a total of 24 assists.

DSU then traveled to Rapid City to play an exhibition game against the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers. The Trojans lost 93-69, but the game did not count against their record. Kylie Westover earned 18 points for the Lady T’s. Cassie Jacobsen scored 11 points. Brittany Rosberg added 7 points and grabbed 4 rebounds off the bench. Yui Onodera gave out six assists, while Courtney Hulstein handed out 4 assists. DSU shot 50% from the field and lost the rebounding battle 34-20.

The Lady T’s then returned home to help Coach Dittman win his 250th career game as well as snapping a three game losing streak. Dakota State University beat the Oglala Lakota Lady Bravehearts 78-28 by shooting the lights-out with 58.9% shot percentage from the field. Ten different players scored in the game for the Lady T’s. Kylie Westover led the team with 24 points Alyson Drooger scored 12 points. Kendra Lindblad added 8 points off the bench. Cassie Jacobsen recorded 7 rebounds for the Lady T’s. Julie Munson came up with 6 steaks.

Currently DSU is 3rd in field goal percentage in the NAIA with .471%. They are 4th in the NAIA in blocks per game with 5.143 blocks. Dakota State University is also 5th for Assists per game with 18.5 per game. Alyson Drooger is #2 in blocks per game with 3.733 and #3 in Total blocks with 56 blocks.

Dakota State will continue their action as they travel to the Corn Palace on Wednesday evening for a game against long-time rival Dakota Wesleyan. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Mitchell, S.D.

Featured photo: Junior guard Courtney Hamblin drives past an unidentified defender on her way to the basket. Photo provided by DSU Athletics