Dixie State University witnessed a new record-holder being crowned while both men’s and women’s basketball took the court over Thanksgiving weekend.
Men’s basketball earned a win Friday night and then returned Saturday to come up short.
Women’s basketball fell behind early and couldn’t shoot its way back into the game.
Men’s basketball
Senior forward Zach Robbins became the all-time leading scorer for Dixie State University during Friday’s win against California State University–Stanislaus. The previous record holder was Ryan Sanchez, who is now the assistant coach for the team.
“I feel like it was cool that [the record holder] was someone I know, that I am pretty close with,” said Robbins, a communication major from Upland, California. “I thought that was neat that I can talk a little trash on him.”
Robbins said the actual points were on an and-one, where he was fouled as he made a basket and recieved another shot.
The 76-54 win came with five DSU players scoring in double figures. Senior guard DeQuan Thompson led the team with 17 points, while Robbins finished with 13.
DSU shot 50 percent from the field and over 50 percent from behind the arc. Early the game was tight with Cal State building a 20-15 lead midway through the first half. The Storm would respond with 13 straight points over the next five minutes.
DSU led 36-30 at the end of the first half and would not look back from there.
With a combination of strong defense and offensive fast breaks, the Storm led by as many as 25 during the second
half.
Saturday the Storm fell to Texas A&M University–Commerce 74-64 to finish the California Baptist tournament.
The men will play Thursday against Point Loma Nazarene in California at 8:30 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
DSU found itself in a big hole early in its game against Central Washington on Saturday. There would be no digging its way out of this one as DSU fell 76-53.
Senior guard Taylor Maynes led the Storm with her performance, scoring 15 points while adding 12 rebounds, three blocks, one steal, and one assist. The effort was not enough for Maynes and her teammates to get back into the game.
The Storm fell behind 16-4 right out of the gate and continued to struggle, falling behind 32-11 with seven minutes left in the half. Central Washington cooled down a little to end the half, but DSU could not capitalize on the opportunity, trailing 41-22 at the half.
DSU struggled offensively as it shot 31.9 percent from the field compared to Central Washington’s 54.3 percent. Defensively, DSU actually forced 19 turnovers and 13 steals compared to its 14 turnovers.
“We had a slow start,” head coach Jenny Thigpin said. “We struggled on the offensive end in the first half and talked about stepping up our defensive intensity at halftime so that we could create easy offense. We were able to make the change but unable to close the gap.”
Both teams were cold offensively in the second half but the strong defense of DSU could not get a comeback started. Central Washington outscored DSU 35-31 in the second half.
“We have to learn how to create our own energy on the road and knock our shots down,” Thigpin said.
The team returns to action Dec. 4 against Pacific West Conference opponent Point Loma in San Diego.
