Orange City, Iowa – Dakota Wesleyan took care of business on the road beating the No. 4 seed Northwestern Red Raiders 80-68. The (RV) Tigers opened the contest with a 9-0 run and never looked back keeping that lead and never trailing in the game. Rylee Rosenquist was flexing up and down the court with her physical team high 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Emma Yost added 14 followed by Morgan Edelman with 13 and Mya Wilson with 10. The Tigers shot 55.8% from the field and 85.7% from the free throw line. DWU forced 18 turnovers, which they turned into 21 points compared to NWC forcing 13 and only turning it into nine points.
Recap – Head coach Jason Christensen stressed coming into the game that his team had to play better on the road and get off the bus ready to play. The Tigers did just that opening the game on a 9-0 run drawing a Northwestern timeout. During the run Mya Wilson splashed a three to start it and later got a second chance layup to fall. Dakota Wesleyan had active hands in the passing lanes leading to eight forced turnovers in the quarter which they turned into eight points. Both squads shot 50% in the quarter from the field, but the Tigers were able to limit their turnovers to just two compared to the Red Raiders eight. DWU never trailed in the quarter and took a 20-13 lead heading to the second.
The Tigers continued their dominance inside in the second quarter, backing the Red Raiders down with physical post moves and dribble drives leading to DWU outscoring NWC in the paint 18-6 in the quarter. Northwestern found their rhythm on offense and cleaned up the turnovers giving them 22 for the quarter as well, keeping it a seven-point game at 42-35 heading to the half. The Red Raiders were able to maintain that seven-point deficit in the quarter despite being dominated inside at the charity stripe. They went 8-10 from the line compared to the Tigers only earning three trips converting two of the three. Rylee Rosenquist was playing her brand of bully ball all quarter, backing down whoever was guarding her and finishing at the rim strong. One of the other keys coming into the contest from Christensen was limiting their offensive rebounds and having “one and done” trips which the Tigers did well limiting the Raiders to just three offensive boards and four second chance points. Maleighya Estes sent the Tigers to the locker room with momentum by scoring the last six points for the Tigers in her just two minutes of play in the quarter.
Third quarter saw the Tigers keep their seven-point lead with both squads turning up the defense holding each other to just 16 points in the quarter. It was a flip of script from the second quarter as the Tigers did most of their damage at the free throw line going 7-9 while NWC dominated the paint 14-6. The Tigers turned the ball over seven times in the quarter but limited the damage by only letting Northwestern turn that into two points while the Tigers took full advantage of the Raiders six turnovers turning it into seven points, giving them 14 of their 16 points in the quarter off turnovers and at the free throw line. DWU held a seven-point lead heading to the final quarter.
In the final quarter the Red Raiders never mounted any kind of comeback and the Tigers kept them at that seven-point lead for most of the quarter and grew on it towards the end leading to their 80-68 road playoff victory. Rosenquist from start to finish had no problem putting her team on her back as she continued to punish the Raiders time and time again down the court with her team-high 21 points. Rosenquist also added a team high six assists and rebounds to go with the scoring barrage. The difference in this one was won at the free throw where the Tigers went 18-21 compared to Northwestern going just 11-18 and points off turnovers which the Tigers had 21 to the Raiders nine.
Head-to-Head (Northwestern)
- The Tigers are now 27-42 all-time against the Raiders with tonight’s win .
- DWU won all three matchups last season against NWC.
- Dakota Wesleyan won the season matchup 2-1.
Up Next
- Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball waits the winner of Dordt vs. Doane to see who they will matchup with in the next round of the GPAC tournament.