BILLINGS, Mont. – The Dickinson State University (DSU) women's basketball team dropped their opening game of the Green and Gold Classic against University of Providence (UP) by a score of 80-55. With the loss, the Blue Hawks drop to 2-15 overall, while the Argos improve to 14-3 on the year.

How it Happened –

During the first quarter of action, the Argos opened the scoring on a bucket from range from Emilee Maldonado. DSU responded with two-made free throws from Courtney Olson (SR/Mandan, ND) and a bucket from beyond the arc by Ashlie Watts (SR/Kimberly, ID) to give the Blue Hawks the 5-3 lead. Over the next six minutes, both teams traded buckets back and forth for four different lead changes until Watts knocked down her second shot from range to give DSU the 14-11 advantage after one quarter of play.

However, the Argos got hot – both defensively and offensively, as they outscored the Blue Hawks 51-27 over the next two quarters for the 21-point lead. Unable to get anything going during the final ten minutes of play, the Blue Hawks would fall 80-55 in the opening game of the Green and Gold Classic, hosted by Rocky Mountain College, on Wednesday afternoon.

From the Box Score –

Senior Ashlie Watts was the lone Blue Hawk in double figure scoring with 15 points. She added a team-high six boards in the game and one steal. Teammates Kailyn Groves (JR/Faith, SD) and Courtney Olson added nine points apiece, while McKenzie Johnson (JR/Carrington, ND) rounded out the starters with five points in the loss. Senior guard Shali Sheridan (SR/Faith, SD) grabbed four boards, while dishing out a team-high five assists. Sophomore transfer, Lauren Baumberger (SO/Watauga, SD) added six points of her own and five rebounds to lead the Blue Hawks from the bench.

As a team, the Blue Hawks shot 31.6 percent from the field (18-57), 37.0 from range (10-27), and 90.0 from the free-throw line (9-10). They added 40 rebounds, three steals, eight assists and forced eight Argo turnovers in the loss.

From the Coach –

"I thought we played a pretty good first half but unfortunately we went cold in the 3rd quarter," stated DSU's head women's basketball coach Eric Nelson. "Give them credit, they got hot from beyond the arc and shot almost 50% for the game, which made it tough to come back. That's a really good team and we just didn't make enough shots. We are right back at it against another really good team in Rocky Mountain. The girls will need to refocus and get ready for another tough test."

Up Next –

The Blue Hawks set to take on host school, (RV) Rocky Mountain College, on Thursday at 2 p.m. The game will mark the second meeting of the 2021-22 season as the Battlin' Bears came away with the 77-68 win earlier this month in Dickinson.