DILLON, Mont. - Samantha Oase (12 points, 9 rebounds) came one rebound shy of her fifth consecutive double-double to start the season and Lindsay Peterson added 11 points on 50% shooting, but #23 Montana Western (1-0, 0-0) proved to be too much as Dickinson State (3-2, 0-0) fell 83-58 on Saturday afternoon.
Dickinson State played the Bulldogs evenly for 30-plus minutes, getting to within 10 with just 8:14 left in the game on a three from Peterson, but nationally ranked UMW was able to pull away in the last eight minutes making the final score a poor indication of the rest of the contest. Playing in their fifth game in nine days, DSU battled hard against a Montana Western team playing in their first counting game of the season, closing the first quarter on a 9-2 run to make it 22-20 Bulldogs after ten minutes.
In the second quarter, Western flexed their muscles a bit, forcing nine DSU turnovers and allowing only nine field goal attempts for the Blue Hawks. The Bulldogs went 10-21 from the field, and 4-8 from deep to stretch their lead to 46-34 at the halftime break.
Dickinson State got within ten at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter on a layup from Oase, but they would get no closer the rest of the way as Montana Western used their depth to keep the Blue Hawks at bay, extending their lead late in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Heather LaBree had 9 points for DSU, while McKenzie Johnson and Kayden Steele added eight and seven points, respectively. Johnson added seven rebounds and three assists for Dickinson State who had 11 assists on 20 made baskets.
"Even though the game didn't go as well as we wanted, I'm still happy with how our team played today." quoted coach Eric Nelson. "We've played five games in nine days and just ran out of gas in the 4th quarter. Montana Western is a good team that has made the National Tournament each of the past five years. This is great competition for us early in the year."
WHATS NEXT
The Blue Hawks will have a must deserved six days off before heading to Orange City, Iowa to take on RV Northwestern College and #15 Dordt University on November 11-12.
