MADISON, S.D. -- Despite a valiant comeback effort in the fourth quarter, the Bellevue University women's basketball team suffered a 77-57 loss at Dakota State University to open North Star Athletic Association play Saturday afternoon at the DSU Memorial Fieldhouse.
With the loss, the Bruins fell to 2-4 on the season and 0-1 in the NSAA. Dakota State improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in league play.
Elexis Martinez led the Bruins with 19 points and seven rebounds. She was the lone Bruin in double figures.
Morgan Koepsell led four Trojans in double figures, finishing with 15 points off the bench, along with five rebounds. Courtney Menning registered 14 points and seven rebounds. Ashlyn Macdonald recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Jessi Giles was the fourth Trojan in double figures, finishing with 12 points along with three assists.
The Trojans outshot BU, 50 to 35.6 percent, and scored 31 points off of 22 BU turnovers.
The Bruins hit just 3-of-18 shots in the first quarter as DSU grabbed a 19-7 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. Martinez led the Bruins in the opening quarter with five points and three rebounds. Seven Trojans scored in the first quarter.
DSU closed the first half on a 15-4 run as the Trojans took a 37-15 advantage into the intermission. Bellevue connected on just 7-of-32 (21.8 percent) shots in the first half and was 0-for-8 from behind the arc. Martinez led BU in the opening 20 minutes with nine points, three rebounds, and an assist.
Macdonald nearly recorded a double-double in the first half with nine points and nine rebounds as the Trojans took advantage of 12 BU turnovers, scoring 19 points off Bruin miscues. DSU shot 42.4 percent in the first half and was 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Seven-straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from Faith Ross, cut the DSU lead to 16 points (44-28) with 6:16 left in the third. The Trojans responded with a 9-0 run to push the margin to 25 points at 53-28 with just under four minutes remaining in the third stanza.
Two-straight 3-pointers by Giles highlighted a 12-0 DSU run to end the third as the Trojans took a commanding 65-32 advantage heading into the final frame. DSU outscored the Bruins, 28-17 in the third.
A 15-4 BU run to open the fourth brought the Bruins to within 22 points (69-47) at the five-minute mark. Three-pointers by Lexi Allen and Miranda Hennings as well as a short jumper by Shelby Little pulled BU to within 18 points with just over two minutes remaining in the contest. That was as close as the Bruins would get as DSU earned the 77-57 victory. BU outscored the Trojans, 25-12 in the final quarter.
The Bruins will host Ottawa (Kan.) University on Monday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
