[Women's Basketball] Tigers use big offense to beat the Flames

MITCHELL, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan University had five players score in double figures to post a 102-51 victory over College of Saint Mary Saturday.

The Tigers, ranked No. 4 in the country in the most recent poll, shot 62 percent in the game, compared to CSM's 35 percent. DWU also outrebounds the Flames 33-18 and converted 33 points off CSM turnovers.

Kynedi Cheeseman led all scorers with 24 points for the Tigers, while teammate Sarah Carr scored 17, Kaylee Kirk tossed in 13, Rylie Osthus tallied 12 and Natalie Gottlob added 10.

For the Flames, Peyton Hagen (SR/Bellevue, Neb.) and Corryne Millett (SR/Minden, Nev.) both had a team-high 10 points. Teammates Lynsey Curran (JR/Omaha, Neb.) and Alyssa Laudato (JR/Palm Bay, Fla.) both scored seven each.

DWU jumped out to a big 31-9 lead in the first quarter and had a 57-19 advantage at halftime. The Tigers outscored CSM 27-13 in the third quarter, before the Flames bested DWU 19-18 in the final frame.

"When you play the quality of competition we are playing in our conference night in and night out, there are no chances to not be ready to compete and play hard," CSM Coach Kirk Walker said. "We had some good looks early that didn't fall and we didn't do a good enough job guarding their best player. We got down big early again, which made it really difficult to have any chance of success."

With the win, DWU improved to 15-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and 22-3 overall. The Flames dropped to 1-17, 2-23.

CSM returns to action Wednesday with a 6 p.m. home game against Doane. The Flames defeated Doane 68-67 back on Nov. 30.