Sagan Osborne | Dickinson State Sports Information Director
DICKINSON – Jenna Jacobson (15 points and 7 rebounds) and Whitney Edwards (12 points and 3 rebounds) had career nights for Dickinson State as the Blue Hawks defeated rival Valley City State, 68-50, to advance to the North Star Athletic Association Conference Tournament semi-finals.
After snapping a 13-game losing streak to the Vikings last week, and earning home court advantage for their first round matchup, Dickinson State started a streak of their own by taking down the Vikings for the second time in five days to advance to the NSAA Final Four for the second straight season.
Playing without leader Samantha Oase who went down with an injury in last week's game, the Blue Hawks got outstanding performances across the roster at just the right time. "It was a great team win," said head coach Eric Nelson. "I think it was the best all-around game our team has played all year. We defended really well and had four players in double figures. Beating a team twice in five days can be tough, but our team locked in and played well. It's been a long season and ending up playing at Watertown (S.D.) in the Final Four is always a great feeling."
Jacobson's 15 points and 7 rebounds were both career highs as she shot 3-4 from three and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Edwards filled into the backup forward role, as Danielle Wallace (7 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks) slid into the starting lineup in Oase's absence, and delivered with the best performance of her young career. Lindsay Peterson continued to be a force on offense for the Blue Hawks, scoring 17 points on 4-11 shooting, in large part due to going 8-8 from the charity stripe.
Free throw shooting has been a bit of a problem spot for the Blue Hawks much of the year, but they went 23-25 on Tuesday night to help seal the victory. Heather LaBree was the fourth Blue Hawk in double figures with 11 points and she also swiped 3 steals and pulled down 4 rebounds.
In one of their best defensive efforts of the season, the Blue Hawks held the Vikings to just 19-69 (27.5 percent) from the field and won the rebounding battle 41-40.
WHATS NEXT
The Blue Hawks will head to Watertown, S.D. to take on 1-seed Dakota State in the NSAA Semi-finals on Saturday, February 25.
