November 7, 2006

Blair, Nebraska ~ The women’s basketball team, fresh off an upset of their first top ten team, needed last second heroics to win their opening home contest.  Dana defeated William Penn 73-71.

The opening few minutes saw both teams survive a rash of turnovers and fouls.  The Vikings took the early 7-2 lead following two free throws from Amanda Bryant (SO, Treynor, IA).  William Penn then stormed back as they went on a 16-6 run to take a five point lead with seven minutes to go in the half.  Coach Mechels’s group then rallied as the half wound down.  Allie Lamb (SO, North English, IA) blocked a Tiffany Thomas shot and then took a Heidi Gowery (FR, St. Helena, NE) pass to pull the Vikings within two at the end of the half. 

The second half saw the Lady Statesmen come out and extend their lead to four points within the opening two minutes.  The Vikings then went on a run of their own, taking the lead for the first time since 14:00 minutes left in the first half.  Amy Nichol (JR, Des Moines, IA) put the Vikings in the lead when she hit her first three pointer of the night.  Dana stretched their lead when Amy Nichol forced a William Penn turnover.  Nichol then drove the lane and put the Vikings up by five with 12 minutes left.  The Lady Statesmen would not go down without a fight.  Shawna Quevedo hit a fast break lay up midway through the half to put William Penn up by two.  They stretched the lead to six on an Erica Raspberry three pointer. 

Dana turned up the defensive pressure the last three minutes of the half.  The Vikings and Lady Statesmen exchanged baskets in the closing minutes.  Dana found themselves down two points with 22 seconds left to go in the game.  Ally Lamb stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws with 13 seconds left.  Dana pressured the ensuing inbound pass and forced a William Penn turnover.  Jennifer Endres (JR, Lincoln, NE) lofted a shot as the last seconds ticked off.  The ball found the rim to be favorable and softly went through the cylinder to give Dana the two point win. 

Allie Lamb had a monstrous night scoring 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots.  Amy Nichol led the Vikings with 20 points and added four steals.  Tricia Trotter (FR, Treynor, NE) had ten points.  Amanda Bryant chipped in 11 points. 

The Vikings have opened their season with three straight wins.  This is the first time in five years that Dana has opened up with three consecutive wins.  The Vikings will travel to York, Nebraska on November 11^th.  Tip off is scheduled for 6:00pm.

For more information, contact:


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

— or —

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