Lady 'Rockers deliver payback to Beavers

By MICHAEL LINNELL

Sports Editor

Minot Daily News

For South Dakota Mines, it was a a high point in a tough week.

For Minot State University, it was a game of missed opportunities.

The No. 25-ranked Hardrockers held MSU to just 37.5 percent shooting and got a combined 40 points from Bethany Holyoak and Loryn Schuetzle to upset the No. 21-ranked Beavers 72-70 in Dakota Athletic Conference women’s basketball Saturday at the MSU Dome.

The Hardrockers snapped a three-game losing streak that started with a loss to MSU at home Jan. 25 — a game they lost two-time All-American Melanie Vedvei to a knee injury.

“It’s been a tough week,” Mines head coach Barb Felderman said. “Melanie meant so much to the team. She was the leader. It’s not like these girls can’t play well together. We have done it in practice.”

The Beavers’ poor shooting was a combination of solid defense by Mines and missed close-range shots by MSU.

“We did everything we possibly could to lose that game,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “We were flat in the shoot-around before the game. You could see it coming.”

Part of Green Gerding’s frustration stemmed from the fact the Beavers played one of their best game a night before in upending No. 14 Black Hills State. Now the Beavers find themselves in second place, tied with the Yellow Jackets and Mayville State and a game behind DAC-leading Dakota State. MSU fell to 6-3 in the DAC, while Mines improved to 5-4 in the conference.

“We had a big win on Friday and couldn’t continue it,” Green Gerding said.

Neither team enjoyed much of a lead throughout the game, but the Beavers opened a 10-point margin midway through the second half on three straight steals — the final resulting in a pair of free throws by Brittni Walker.

But Mines made an immediate run, outscoring the Beavers 14-3 to take a 61-60 lead on free throws by Holyoak with 7:12 to go. Holyoak was a thorn in the Beavers’ side all night, scoring 20 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.

“Bethany does a great job inside even though she is so slight,” Felderman said. “She absorbs contact so well.”

Neither team had a larger lead that the 3-point lead (72-69) the Hardrockers enjoyed on a Holyoak par of free throws on an offensive rebound with 1:25 to play. MSU got to with in 72-70 on a free throw by Kendra Meyer and had a chance to tie or take the lead on the final play of the game, but Whitney Loftesnes’ shot with three seconds to play didn’t fall.

“We figured Meyer would talk the final shot, but we didn’t really do anything different against it,” Feldeman said.

“You take what the defense give you,” Green Gerding said. “I thought Whitney took a good shot, it just didn’t fall. We missed too many free throws and good looks at the basket before that to win the game.”

The Beavers only missed six free throws in the game, but missed three of those in the final three minutes.

While it was Holyoak down low that proved tough for MSU, Hardrockers guard Loryn Schuetzle was tough to handle both inside and out. Schuetzle scored 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers.

“She is a combo kid,” Felderman said. “She played very well for us. We have relied on all of our freshman all season.”

Nicole Martin added 11 points for the Hardrockers (17-6 overall), while Jerika Ihnen added seven rebounds to the Mines’ cause.

The Beavers (15-8 overall) were led by Meyer’s 23, while Lashay Bagsby finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Walker chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds. MSU was plagued by 21 turnovers.

“We didn’t defend for three-quarters of the game, especially in the paint,” Green Gerding said. “We had no energy. It was very frustrating.”