Index of Sports Press Releases

Dec. 31, 2007

DWU Women’s Basketball Team Finishes 1-1 in Holiday Classic

MITCHELL, S.D. — The Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball team defeated Jamestown College and lost to No. 14 Black Hills State University during the DWU Women’s Basketball Holiday Classic to finish the Classic 1-1 on Saturday (Dec. 29) night and Sunday (Dec. 30) afternoon at the Corn Palace.

On the first night of play, senior center Adria Pazour recorded a double-double to lead the Tigers (8-9 overall) to a 62-48 victory over Jamestown College. Pazour finished with 13 points and a team-high 16 rebounds.

Earlier in the season, the Jimmies defeated the Tigers at the Corn Palace. However on this night, DWU jumped out to a 17-9 lead with 8:32 left to play in the first half and maintained that lead to hold a 27-19 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Tigers would not allow Jamestown to get any closer than eight points and were able to extend that lead to 14 points with eight minutes left to play.

Junior guard Sarah Mortenson led the Tigers’ scoring with 15 points, and Allison Johnson finished with nine points. The Tigers outrebounded the Jimmies 38-30.

DWU held Jimmies’ leading scorer Guili Varriano, who had 34 points and 10 rebounds in the earlier meeting, to just eight points in the first half. Varriano finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.

On Sunday afternoon, Bayley Chevron made a last-second shot to lead nationally ranked No. 14 Black Hills State over DWU 69-67.

The Yellow Jackets had a six-point lead at halftime and led by as many as 10 points in the second half. The Tigers continued to battle back, shooting 50 percent from the field and 3-point range during the second half. DWU was down by seven points with 1:29 left to play in the game. Pazour connected on two free throws, and Ashley Johnson hit a clutch 3-pointer to cut the lead to just two points with one minute left to play.

The Tigers and the Yellow Jackets exchanged missed field goals to keep the deficit at two. Black Hills State’s Snjezana Dojcinovic missed the first of two free throws but was able to connect on the second to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to three with 21 seconds remaining on the clock. Ashley Johnson was again able to connect on a 3-point shot to tie the game 67-67 with 10 seconds to play in the game. Black Hills State then threw the ball into Chevron who took the ball down the court and threw up an off-balanced jump shot that went in with time on the clock running out.

Three players reached double figures for the Tigers. Allison Johnson had a team-high 18 points, and Pazour added 13 points. Ashley Johnson scored all 11 of her points in the second half.

For the Yellow Jackets, Dojcinovic finished with a team-high 16 points, and Chevron added 14 points.

DWU will play Midland Lutheran College in a GPAC doubleheader with the men’s team on Friday, Jan. 4 at the Corn Palace. Tip-off for the women’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. for the men’s game.