College women: Lady 'Rockers handle BHSU

By Mike Besso, Lawrence County Journal | Friday, February 16, 2007

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RAPID CITY - South Dakota School of Mines secured the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game in the first round of the Dakota Athletic Tournament, capturing an 84-68 win over Black Hills State in both teams' regular season finale on Thursday evening at Goodell Gymnasium.

Both teams were aided by Jamestown College's win over Valley City State on Thursday. The Jimmies' win pushed Mines into the second seed, ahead of Valley City. BHSU wound up in a four-way tie for fourth place in the final league standings. The Yellow Jackets owned four wins against the other three schools (Jamestown College, Minot State and Mayville State), earning the tie-breaker and a first-round home playoff game in the conference tournament.

"It's huge," said Lady Hardrocker coach Barb Felderman on achieving home court status for the opening round of the conference tournament.

Melanie Vedvei topped SDSM with 27 points. The Lake Preston junior tied her own school record of 17 made free throws set on January 20 against Valley City State. Jennie Malone chipped in 21 points and Madi Hotovec added 13.

Lacey Haughian of BHSU tallied a game-high 30 points. Jaime Bentley contributed 17 and Brittney Klipfel added 10.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Leah Sundby and Malone presented the Lady 'Rockers with a 23-12 lead at the 11:20 mark of the opening half

Bentley and Alexis Krull drained successive trifectas, drawing the Lady Jackets to within 34-28 at the 4:30 mark. Mines answered with one three-pointer each by Malone and Sundby, taking a 40-28 edge. The host squad connected on seven of 11 shots from beyond the three-point arc in the initial half. SDSM took a 44-30 halftime advantage.

BHSU closed the gap to 70-62 with 5:38 remaining in the game "We cut it to eight points, and then took a quick shot and turned the ball over," said BHSU coach Mark Nore.

"Tech played really well. Malone went off on us on the first half. Vedvei got to the free throw line 18 times."

Coach Felderman said Thursday game resembled the teams' earlier matchup in Spearfish in December. "We got a few more shots from the perimeter this time."

Felderman was pleased with the play of freshmen Bethany Holyoak, Hotovec, Kayla Goshorn, Nicole Martin and Sundby. "They are not playing like freshmen," said Felderman. "They are seasoned. Madi is a deadeye shooter. We want her to shoot."

Six of the teams in the DAC are either rated or receiving votes in the NAIA Division II women's basketball poll. "There are great players and great coaches in the DAC," said Felderman. DAC teams own a 19-11 edge over Great Plains Athletic Conference teams this season.

Mines hosts Mayville State and BHSU entertains Jamestown College in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday. The DAC tournament champion earns a berth in the national tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.

"It a three-game season now," said Nore of the three wins needed to qualify for the national tournament.