The women’s basketball team, currently No. 3 in the Pacific West Conference, is preparing to face off with Brigham Young University-Hawaii on Feb. 23.
BYU-H came from a 5-13 record last year to a 5-9 record this year. Last season, Dixie State University beat BYU-H 89-72 and then again 86-58. This year the Red Storm is confident in taking this win again.
“We will prepare like it’s any other game,” head coach Derek Dawes said. “Obviously with BYU-H in town, and being somewhat of a rival, there will be that aspect. But we will treat it as a game with huge seeding implications for the conference tournament.”
Though DSU does have some advantages, Dawes said the main threats the Seasiders has against them is their transition and shooting. He said BYU-H has exceptional shooters.
So in order to ensure the success of this game, Dixie has a little bit more preparing to do.
“Offensively we need to continue to work on our aggressiveness in attacking the basket,” Dawes said. “Defensively I’m very pleased with our progress, but [we] need to work on our rebounding.”
Overall Dawes said he is happy with how the women have developed an attitude together to do whatever it takes to win.
Dixie had four away games from Feb. 9-16. At he first game, Dixie beat Academy of Art 53-52; both teams had a low shooting percent. DSC had a total of 30.8 percent and AAU had 16.7 percent. But in the second half, Dixie had a 7-0 run and stayed ahead the rest of the game. AAU had one final shot but missed, allowing Dixie to start its four-game series with a win.
Keeping their momentum high, the Red Storm defeated Dominican University of California, 65-54. Leading that game for Dixie were seniors center Mandy Munns and guard Erica Hayes. Munns and Hayes brought the team back up from the dead in the second half. DSU outscored DUC 29-7 in the last 10 minutes of the game.
“I think Dixie winning the first two games really says something about the team,” said Benjamin Fuller, a freshman business major from Alpine. “I am excited to see how they play the next couple weeks.”
But the Red Storm fell short against Holy Names University with 29 turnovers. Junior forward Johnna Brown, out with an injury for the DUC game, scored 38 points and received 18 rebounds. On top of that Brown received her 12th double-double of the season, but that wasn’t enough for Dixie. The Red storm lost 65-76.
The last game of the series ended up with a win for the Red Storm as they defeated Notre Dame De Namur University 66-59. This trip resulted in three out of four wins for the women.
“It’s been a lot of fun to compete together,” Dawes said. “I think we all have done a good job of adjusting to each other’s styles and getting on the same page.”
