No. 7 DWU women dealt first loss of the season at Jamestown
Nov. 17—JAMESTOWN, N.D. — The Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday night in Great Plains Athletic Conference play, falling to Jamestown by a score of 71-64 at Newman Arena.
It came on the same day the Tigers moved into the top-10 in the national rankings after their 3-0 start to the season.
DWU led the game 29-28 at halftime but the game flipped in Jamestown's favor in the second half, with DWU's last lead coming at 32-31 just 37 seconds into the third quarter. The teams dueled to a 36-all tie over the first four minutes of the half before Jamestown (4-1, 2-0 GPAC) embarked on an 12-3 run.
It was DWU's Lacey Sprakel, the sophomore forward from Crofton, Nebraska, who kept the Tigers within striking distance late in the quarter, scoring nine straight points for the Tigers and leaving DWU trailing 54-48 at the third-quarter pause. In the fourth quarter, DWU got within five points on four occasions —including with Isabel Ihnen's basket with 2:26 remaining — but never eked closer.
UJ's Hannah DeMars, a 5-foot-11 senior forward from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, had a game-high 32 points for the Jimmies, while Kate Cordes had 16 points from the bench. Jamestown shot 42% on field goals but finished a perfect 13-for-13 on free throws in the win.
For the Tigers, Jada Campbell had the big offensive effort, scoring 24 points on 10-for-20 shooting and seven rebounds. Sprakel had a career-high 17 points off the bench on a 7-for-9 night from the field. Morgan Edelman had nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Matti Reiner had eight points despite a 2-for-10 shooting night for the Tigers.
The Tigers — who were 11-for-43 on 3-pointers in three total games entering Wednesday — finished 0-for-6 on 3-pointers for the contest. Of DWU's 64 points in the game, 49 came from forwards, with the guards accounting for 15 points, and DWU finished with a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.
DWU (3-1, 1-1 GPAC) will play its first home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 19 against College of Saint Mary in a 2 p.m. game at the Corn Palace.
