SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dixie State head coach Jon Judkins recorded his 200th victory as the Red Storm’s head coach Monday night in a 75-65 victory at Dominican University’s Conlan Center.
The victory could not have come at a more crucial time as Dixie State is fighting for positioning in the PacWest Tournament.
“Hopefully I will get 200 more before my career is over,” said Judkins. “This was a tough win. Dominican is trying to get into the tournament and we are fighting for a better seed. We knew it was going to be a battle.”
A strong finish in the first half and a strong start to the second half helped DSU grab a decent-sized lead.
In the first half, both teams showed that they had something to play for. Neither team would build a lead larger than four points. Dominican built an 11-7 lead with 14:17 showing on the clock. The Storm battled back to tie the game at 15 on Trevor Hill’s free throw.
Two consecutive buckets in the paint by Mark Ogden gave the Storm a 25-21 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Dominican responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead back. But the Storm closed the half by scoring five unanswered points, three from the line as Dixie State was in the bonus the last six minutes.
Defense by both teams caused poor shooting. DSU shot 36 percent while the Penguins only managed 34 percent on their home floor. The Storm outrebounded DUC 23-18 in the first half with Ogden and Josh Fuller pulling down seven apiece. Fuller led the team with seven points. Mason Sawyer and Ogden had six apiece.
“We had several easy shots in the first half that did not go for us,” said Judkins. “We told our guys at halftime to keep attacking the basket and that those shots would eventually fall for us.”
Brandon Simister opened the second half with a 3-point play to push the lead to six. The Storm would maintain a 6-8 point lead over the next 10 minutes, but could not put the Penguins away. Two Ogden free throws gave the Storm its first double-digit lead 58-47 with 8:29 remaining.
“They double-teamed our posts,” said Judkins. “I told them to be patient, wait for our guy to get to the basket and make the pass. We did a better job of that in the second half. That led to some easy buckets or foul shots.”
Dominican responded with five straight points. It would be two more Ogden free throws that pushed the lead back to double digits with 5:48 remaining 65-54.
The Storm pushed the lead to 72-58 when Simister hit two free throws with 2:23 remaining. Dominican quickly cut the lead to nine points with two baskets. Then the Penguins were forced to foul.
The strategy worked as DSU missed five of their final eight free throws, but the Penguins could not convert at the other end. The only points they could manage were off a dunk by Josh Ramirez and Dixie came away with a 75-65 victory.
The Storm shot 45 percent from the floor while holding Dominican to 38 percent. They also outrebounded the Penguins 44-26. Individually Simister, Hill and Ogden led the team with 15 points apiece. Ogden had a double-double with 13 rebounds. Fuller also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sawyer and Robbie Nielson scored 9 and 8 points, respectively.
The Storm have won seven straight and move to 16-8 overall and 13-5 in the PacWest. Dominican falls to 13-13 and 9-10 in the PacWest. Dixie State will travel to Fresno Pacific Wednesday night. The Broncos were tied with Dominican for the sixth and final spot coming into Monday night. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
Women’s basketball
Dominican 78, Dixie State 69
The Dixie State women’s basketball team had its three-game winning streak halted on the road by the Lady Penguins on Monday night. The Storm held a 37-31 halftime lead but were outscored by 15 points in the second half on good shooting by Dominican.
The Storm came out strong with Taylor Mann scoring nine of DSU’s first 13 points. Tomorie Sangster’s jumper put Dixie State up 17-10 with 2:22 remaining in the first. Dominican closed out the period 3-0 to cut the lead to four.
The Storm pushed the lead back up and nearly got it to double digits in the second. Aliya Davis hit a 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining to give the Storm its biggest lead 37-28. A Dominican 3-pointer closed out the half to bring the DSU lead down to six.
The Storm shot a red-hot 54 percent while holding Dominican to just 35 percent. Taylor Mann had 15 points at halftime to lead Dixie State. Dixie State’s fortunes would be reversed in the second half.
Individually, Mann recorded another double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Burge had 12 points and five rebounds. Aliya Davis finished with 10 points and three steals.
Dixie State falls to 7-17 overall, 7-11 in the PacWest. Dominican improves to 16-10 overall, 12-7 in conference play. Dixie State will finish its three-game road swing against Fresno Pacific on Wednesday night. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
Softball
DSU 12, Fort Lewis 0
DSU 5, Fort Lewis 1
The No. 2 Dixie State softball team wasted no time adjusting to life on the road, earning a doubleheader sweep over Fort Lewis on Monday in Aztec, N.M., inDSU’s first road games of the season.
The Red Storm (10-4) rolled to a 12-0 victory in five innings in Game One and held off the Skyhawks for a 5-1 win in Game Two.
GAME ONE
Dixie State did most of its damage in the first three innings in Game One, jumping to an 11-0 lead after three innings of play. Autumn Woodfall started the scoring with a double to left field, scoring Dani Bartholf. Shelby Yung scored next on a wild pitch, and Woodfall scored on a sacrifice fly by Jessica Gonzalez.
Bartholf brought home Cassidy Morton in the second inning on a foul out to the catcher, followed by an RBI-single to left field by Yung. Josey Hartman found the same spot in the outfield later in the inning to bring two more runs across, and Mallory Paulson blasted a two-RBI double to make the score 9-0.
Kristie Johnson belted her second home run of the season in the third inning, followed by another RBI-single by Woodfall to make the score 11-0 in favor of Dixie State.
Yung closed out the scoring with her second home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning, and the Storm wrapped up the game on defense to seal the victory.
Yung led the way for DSU, finishing the game at 3-for-3 and three RBI. Woodfall turned in a 2-for-3 performance with two RBI. Aryn Feickert earned the win in the pitcher’s circle, striking out three batters in two innings of work before Brooklyn Beardshear took over in the third inning.
GAME TWO
The scoring wasn’t as abundant in Game Two, but DSU still managed to put a few runs on the scoreboard in the first two innings. Yung picked up where she left off in the first game, scoring Janessa Bassett with an RBI-single in the first inning.
Hartman and Johnson both picked up RBIs in the top of the second inning, after Fort Lewis evened the score in the first inning. Hartman singled to score Taylor Godfrey, while Johnson grounded out to the second baseman, allowing Hartman to score.
The Red Storm added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh when Bassett doubled to right field to score Johnson. Not to be outdone, Bartholf singled to right field to score Bassett in the next at bat to give the Storm its winning score of 5-1.
Bartholf led the way in Game Two, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Feickert earned her second win of the day in the pitcher’s circle to improve to 7-2 on the season. Feickert threw a complete, seven-inning game with 11 strikeouts and allowed just three hits.
Dixie State returns to action with a doubleheader at Colorado Mesa on Tuesday in Grand Junction, Colorado, starting at 2 p.m.
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