(DCC Athletics release)
GLENDIVE – After 9 lead changes, 4 ties and being down by as many as 13 points, the women’s basketball team of Dawson Community College was still standing when the smoke cleared, defeating Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, ND 92-85.
DCC came out with lots of energy in the first quarter with strong defensive and offensive attacks. They outscored Lake Region 26-21. However, in the second quarter, the Lady Royals showed why they are one of the top teams in the conference and quickly regained their power, outscoring the Lady Buccaneers 26-12, going into halftime with a 47-38 lead. The Lady Bucs would make their adjustments and claw their way back into the game, ending the third quarter with a 28-25 scoring lead. DCC was having difficulty dealing with the Lady Royals full court zone press causing the Lady Bucs to turn it over 23 times for the game. Ejanae Coopwood and Sara Anderson had 5 turnovers apiece. MacKinzie Verke had 4 and Lexia Bell-White 3. Keeping their focus, DCC continued to pour it on as they did the first quarter, and struck hard with changing defenses from a 1-3-1 zone to a high pressure man to man coverage and finalizing the deal with the fourth quarter in favor of DCC 26-13.
Alexius Foster led the game with a 28 point performance. Four other Buccaneers were in double digits as well: Verke with 18 points and 6 rebounds; Coopwood 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assist; Lexia Bell-White 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a team high 6 assists; and Sara Anderson chipped in with 10 points.
An elated Head Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. had this to say about his team’s victory, “I don’t know how we did it, but this afternoon, the team played with lots of emotion, intensity, energy and a high sense of urgency. I am so proud how they pulled off that victory. Pure determination is what I saw from this group tonight. It was a pleasure to witness them battle it all the way to the end. What’s interesting is, the team got together and did the film and scouting report on their own. I guided them as to how to do that, but they sat in the room and it became a collective effort to strategize to victory.”
The Lady Bucs are 2-1 in conference play, and will try and continue their winning efforts when they host United Tribes this Thursday, January 18th at 5:30 pm in the Toepke Center.
