Women’s Basketball Opens in Kansas

Wichita, KS ~ Opening weekend came out in a positive way for Coach Brenda Mechels and her Viking Basketball team.  Dana opened up with a 66-55 win over the host school Friends University on Friday.  Then Saturday Dana knocked off the number nine team in the NAIA Ottawa University 83-78.

The opening game saw Dana face off against the host team, Friends University.  The Vikings held a decided edge in every statistical category.  The high pressure Dana defense forced Friends into 24 turnovers, which resulted in 21 points.  The Vikings used their height advantage to tear down 35 team rebounds, 11 of which were offensive rebounds.  One difference from last season, the depth of the Dana bench proved to a huge advantage.  The Vikings bench outscored the Falcons bench by a 36-19 margin.

Dana was led by Amanda Bryant (SO, Treynor, IA) with 15 points.  Jen Endres (JR, Lincoln, NE) and Amy Nichol (JR, Des Moines, IA) each dropped 11 points.  Allie Lamb (SO, North English, IA) added eight and Tricia Trotter (FR, Treynor, IA) chipped in nine.

Erin Bazata (SO, Randolph, NE) led the team with six rebounds.  Nichol pulled down five rebounds.  Trotter, Bryant, and Michelle Weinrich (JR, Pierce, NE) each grabbed four rebounds apiece.  Nichol and Endres were team leaders in assists and steals.  The two combined for six assists and eight steals.

Saturday’s match-up would pit Dana against Ottawa University.  The Braves had received a top ten national rating in the preseason NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball poll. The game would give the Vikings a taste of the upcoming conference season.  Coach Mechels had her troops ready to run and gun.

The first half did not go as well as Friday as the Vikings were behind by four.  Coach Mechels rallied her troops and once again unleashed the Dana high pressure defense.  The Vikings forced the Braves into 25 turnovers.  Dana capitalized on the high number of turnovers to score 36 points.  Ottawa forced Dana into 24 team turnovers, but were unable to take advantage of the situation.

The Vikings opened up their offense and started to bomb away from three point land.  Dana finished the evening 12-24 from behind the arc.  Felicia Ellis (JR, Rockwell City, IA) knocked down four of six three point shots.  Michelle Weinrich hit three of four shots from the same distance.  The stifling Dana defense allowed Ottawa to shoot three of 13 from behind the line.

Once again bench scoring helped to seal the Dana victory.  The Viking bench was too big of a match for the Braves as it had a 56-19 scoring lead.  The top three scorers for Dana came off of the bench.  Weinrich led the team with 15 points.  Allie Lamb added 14 points.  Ellis chimed in with 12 points and Amanda Bryant put in 11.  Bryant also led the team with six rebounds, five of which were offensive.  Jennifer Endres led the team with six assists and four steals.

The Vikings are now 2-0 on the young season.  Dana will open up its home season on Tuesday night against William Penn University.  The Lady Statesmen are 0-1 on the season.  Tip off is scheduled for 6:00pm in Gardner-Hawks.

For more information, contact:


Shad Beam, sports information director, (402) 426-7389, sbeam@dana.edu

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Scott Guzinski, assistant Sports Information Director, (402) 426-7949, sguzinsk@dana.edu