Fourth-quarter surge sends Hastings past No. 11 DWU women

The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

Dec. 4—MITCHELL — A 28-point fourth quarter for Hastings College upended the Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball team's plans for a weekend sweep at the Corn Palace.

Hastings (5-4, 3-2 GPAC) made 13 3-pointers, including five in the final period, to rally from a 10-point deficit with 8 minutes remaining for a 74-70 Great Plains Conference victory. DWU was the court less than 24 hours after pulling out a 75-69 overtime win over Doane on Friday night in Mitchell.

DWU (6-2, 4-2 GPAC) led 59-49 after Rynn Osthus made a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to double digits. But from that point forward, the No. 11-ranked Tigers converted three field goals and were unable to stave off Hastings late.

Allison Bauer and Olivia Kugler made back-to-back 3-pointers to put Hastings ahead 64-62 with 3:17 left, only to be answered by DWU star Matti Reiner's 3-pointer to go up 65-64. Reiner added two more free throws a minute later, and Kugler did the same to leave the DWU lead at one point. After a Tiger turnover, Katharine Hamburger had a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left that gave Hastings the lead for good.

Isabel Ihnen split a pair of free throws to get DWU within one point, down 69-68. Kiernen Paulk made two free throws to lead by three and DWU's next possession came up empty, with Kugler adding two more free throws with 8 seconds left to seal the game.

Reiner finished with 17 points for DWU, while Ihnen had 16 points and eight rebounds, powered by five 3-pointers. Jada Campbell had 13 points for DWU and Osthus finished with seven points. The Tigers made 11 of 23 3-pointers and finished the day shooting 44.8% overall (26-for-58). DWU had 20 assists, paced by seven from junior Mya Wilson, who played for the first time this season and started alongside Aspen Hansen, Ihnen, Reiner and Campbell. DWU led 16-9 after one quarter and 36-31 at halftime, holding Hastings to 34.3% shooting in the first 20 minutes.

Hastings was 17-for-20 on free throws in the game, while DWU shot 12 free throws and made seven. Kugler had 19 points for the Broncos, Allison Bauer had 15 points and Hamburger scored 12.

The Tigers are back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 7 for a non-conference matchup at Bellevue in Bellevue, Nebraska. Tip time is 6 p.m.