BELLEVUE, NEB. – Samantha Oase scored 20 points, including the game winner, and pulled down 19 rebounds as Dickinson State erased a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Midland 68-66 at the Chick-fil-A Classic hosted by Bellevue University.
In addition to Oase, three other Blue Hawks finished in double figures, as Katherine Fox (14 points and 4 rebounds), Kayden Steele (12 points and 6 assists), and Heather LaBree (10 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists) all put together strong opening efforts. Tinley Pierson proved Dickinson State some strong minutes off the bench, scoring 6 points and collecting 5 rebounds, but the Blue Hawk bench was outscored 33-9 on the game.
The Blue Hawks trailed all game, falling behind early in the first quarter and were down 20-8 after the first ten minutes. DSU shot just 3-16 from the field in the first quarter while Midland went 8-15 to take the early advantage.
The second quarter was closer, but again the Warriors held the edge, as they took advantage of eight DSU turnovers to outscore the Blue Hawks 16-13 and take a 36-21 lead into the half.
Dickinson State came out of the break hot, and immediately cut the lead to 36-27 on a pair of Kayden Steele free throws to get withing single digits, but each time DSU made a run, the Warriors had a response. A three-pointer by Pierson with 3:05 left in the quarter got the Blue Hawks within six, but another Midland run to close the quarter made it 58-44 WU with just one quarter remaining.
In the fourth quarter, the Blue Hawks went to a smothering full court press that caused the Warriors problems and the comeback was on. After struggling from the field much of the game, Dickinson State exploded in the final frame, shooting 10-19 (53 percent), including 3-5 from long range. After Oase tied the game at 63-63 with a layup with 2:42 remaining, the Blue Hawks took their first lead of the game when she found Pierson for a layup one possession later. The lead didn't last, however, as a pair of free throws from the Warriors tied the game with 21 seconds remaining. This set the stage for Oase's heroics, as Kayden Steele found her down low for a wide-open layup for the winning margin.
"It was a great comback victory for our team," said head coach Eric Nelson. "It wasn't very pretty, but we stayed together and fought back one possession at a time after getting down big in the third quarter. We need to continue to get better and be ready to go against a very good Kansas Wesleyan team tomorrow."
The Blue Hawks will be back in action tomorrow, October 28, at 11:30 am MT as they take on Kansas Wesleyan.
