Dana Tops #24 Doane, Falls to DWU
 

The Viking women’s basketball team split a pair of Great Plains Athletic Conference games last weekend.  Dana upset the nation’s 24th rated team, Doane College, on Thursday, 77-75.  The Vikings fell to Dakota Wesleyan at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., 75-60, on Saturday.
 
Thursday evening started off poorly for the Viking hoopsters.  Doane College scored the first 11 points of the game.  Tricia Trotter (SO, Treynor, Iowa) nailed a three-pointer with six minutes into the game to give Dana its first points.  The Tigers continued to pound the Vikings throughout the first half.  Dana found itself down 21-9 with seven minutes remaining in the first half.  That is when Trotter heated up.  Trotter connected on five three pointers in the first half, scoring 20 of the Vikings 24 first-half points.  Dana went into halftime down, 32-24.
 
Both teams exchanged baskets through the early stages of the second half.  Amy Nichol (SR, Des Moines, Iowa) scored on a lay-up at the 15:55 mark to bring Dana within four points.  Doane responded with a 7-0 run to stretch its lead to double digits.  This served as a wake-up call for the Vikings.  Megan Gerdes (SO, Treynor, Iowa) hit a jumper to bring Dana within three.  Following a Doane miss, Nichol scored on a lay-up and then connected on a free throw to tie the game up.  Chelsey Williams (JR, Tabor, Iowa) gave Dana its first lead of the game with an uncontested lay-up.   The Vikings stretched their lead to as many as 16 points with less than five minutes left in the game.  
 
Doane showed why it was rated in the top 25 as they took one last stand.  The Tigers tied the game up at 75-75 with 27 seconds remaining on the clock.  Following a time out, Dana looked to its most experienced player on the court for the win.  Nichol did not disappoint.  She took an Erin Bazata (JR, Randolph, Neb.) in-bounds pass and scored a lay-up.  Doane had one last chance to tie the game up, but Nichol disrupted a Doane shot at the buzzer to seal the win.
 
Trotter had a career-high 25 points off the bench.  Trotter was six of six from the three-point line.  She also dished out four assists and had five steals. Nichol had 17 points and four assists.  Megan Parker (JR, Sloan, Iowa) had eight points and a team-high five assists.
 
Saturday afternoon, Dana traveled to Mitchell, S.D., to take on Dakota Wesleyan.  The Vikings found the Corn Palace not a friendly place to play.  The Vikings were held to under 45 percent shooting on the afternoon.  Dana did not reach double digits until the 9:49 mark in the first half.  A Nichol lay-up drew the Vikings within 15 points.  Nichol again cut into the Tiger lead, 30-22, by hitting a lay-up with 3:41 remaining in the half.  Dana went into the locker-room down 34-25.
 
Megan Finn (FR, Omaha, Neb.) drew the Vikings within one point, 40-39, when she nailed a three pointer.  Amanda Bryant (JR, Treynor, Iowa) tied the game up following a jumper in the paint.  The Vikings were unable to keep up the momentum as Dakota Wesleyan ended the game with a 33-18 run.
 
Nichol led all Vikings with 16 points and four assists. Bryant added 15 points and eight rebounds. Finn had six points before fouling out.
 
The Vikings are 9-18 on the season and 4-11 in GPAC play.  Dana travels to Hastings, Neb., on Wednesday evening.  The Broncos are currently rated sixth in the latest NAIA poll.  Hastings defeated Dana 87-62 in December.  The Vikings will play their last game against third rated Morningside College on Saturday.

For more information, please contact Shad Beam, Sports Information Director at 402-426-7389 or sbeam@dana.edu