SPEARFISH - After a hiatus of six years, Black Hills State University women's basketball team is returning to the national tournament. The Lady Jackets downed Mayville State 75-65 in the Dakota Athletic Conference tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon at the Young Center.
The win gave BHSU (26-5 overall) its first-ever DAC women's hoops tourney championship, and handed head coach Mark Nore his 100th win as head coach of the Lady Jackets. Nore is the all-time winningest women's basketball coach at BHSU. The Lady Jackets earned a berth in the NAIA Division II National Tournament at the Tyson Events Center-Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa on March 12-18.
Snjezana Dojcinovic and Lacey Haughian, two of the three BHSU seniors playing in their final home game, combined for 39 points. Dojcinovic poured in 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Haughian provided 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Lindsey Buthe, the other senior, claimed eight rebounds. Brittany Fuhrman connected for 15 points, including five-of-six from 3-point range.
Katelynn Lamb chipped in 10 points for BHSU.
Jamie Wheeler led the Comets with 20 points. Cassie Leraas netted 15 and Danielle Guilbert added 13. Laura Big Crow, a senior from Pine Ridge, was limited to eight points, 10.2 points below her scoring average of 18.2 points, which had her ranked fourth in the conference.
"We wanted to hold down Leraas and Big Crow," Nore said. "We knew to beat Mayville, we had to hold those two in check. When Big Crow got the ball, two 6-2 girls (Haughian, Dojcinovic) were right there on her. Bayley Chevron did a great job on Leraas."
A pair of scoring outbursts - one in each half - fueled the BHSU win. A 3-pointer by Leraas presented the Comets with a 26-23 lead in the first half. The Lady Jackets answered with an 11-0 run. A trey by Lamb gave the Green and Gold a 34-26 lead. Mayville State shaved the halftime deficit to 36-33.
Fuhrman and Lamb drained back-to-back 3-pointers during a 10-0 scoring surge in the early minutes of the second half. BHSU increased its advantage to 46-33.
"We knew they (Lady Jackets) were a team of runs," Comets coach Dennis Hutter said. "We tried to limit their runs. Their run in the second half was hard to overcome."
"The crowd was awesome today," Nore said. "When we made our runs, the crowd was rocking."
A 3-pointer by Dojcinovic upped the BHSU edge to 70-53 in the final half.
Coach Hutter was asked his opinion on how many teams should represent the DAC in the national tournament. I feel there are four teams - Black Hills, Dakota State, Minot State and us," he answered. "There is no question Black Hills State is a tremendous team. Nine of our losses were by eight points or less. Seven losses were to NCAA Division II schools.
"This is all new to us," Nore said about the Lady Jackets' first appearance in the national tournament since 2002. "This is an exciting time.
The pairings for the national tournament will be announced by the NAIA on Wednesday.
As of Sunday, six No. 1 seed teams lost games in their respective conference tournaments.
