Blue Hawk women stun Valley City State to advance to NSAA semis

Valley City, N.D. – Dickinson State used their best shooting performance of the season to shock third-seeded Valley City State, 84-70, and advance to the semifinals of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament. The sixth-seeded Blue Hawks shot 31-65 (48 percent) from the field, including 10-21 (48 percent) from long range, to pull off the road upset.

Samantha Oase led the way for DSU, scoring 27 points on 9-15 shooting, pulling down 10 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots for a huge double-double, her first since January 12. Kayden Steele also had a big game for the Blue Hawks, scoring all 21 of her points in the first three quarters and drilling five threes. Seniors Hannah and Heather LaBree chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, to join Steele and Oase in double figures.

VCSU took an early 2-0 lead on their first possession of the game, but Katherine Fox answered back 1:15 into the contest, and Oase put the Blue Hawks ahead, 4-2, on a bucket with 8:29 left in the opening ten minutes. Dickinson State never relinquished that lead, racing out to a 10-2 lead and withstanding a couple Viking runs to carry a 24-15 lead into the first quarter break.

DSU led by as many as 18 in the first half, but a mini run late by VCSU cut the lead to 11, 43-32, heading into the half.

The third quarter was again controlled by DSU, as the lead grew as large as 23 at the 3:20 mark, with VCSU struggling offensively and unable to get anything going. The Vikings outscored the Blue Hawks 18-15 in the final quarter, but never threatened, never got within single digits, as Dickinson State fed Oase over the final 10 minutes for 10 of her 27 points to seal the win.

"We needed to play our best game," said head coach Eric Nelson, "and we did."

DSU outplayed the Vikings in nearly every facet of the game on Wednesday, turning 16 VCSU turnovers into 21 points, and dishing 17 assists.

"It was a great team win," said Nelson. "We finally put together a full 40 minutes. We defended well, limited our turnovers, and shot the ball well which was nice to see. Now we look forward to playing a top-10 team in the country in the semis."

The Blue Hawks now advance to face second-seeded #10 Dakota State in the NSAA Tournament Semifinals. This will be the third straight season the Blue Hawks and Trojans have met in the penultimate round, with the teams meeting in Watertown, S.D. each of the past two seasons. This year the game will be played in Madison with the NSAA moving to all campus sites for its conference tournament as DaSU looks to triumph a third straight time over Dickinson State.