Turnovers and outside shooting plague the Dixie State University women’s basketball team yet again, despite an energetic and earnest effort against Azusa Pacific University.
The box score shows a final score of 69-48. It also showed that DSU made more free-throws than APU and the rebounding numbers were nearly dead-even.
The difference between the two teams came by way of a decimating 3-point shooting clinic by the Cougars, who connected on 15 3-pointers. The Cougars outscored the Trailblazers by 21 from beyond the arc.
“Our defense had some lapses tonight,” said redshirt sophomore Tramina Jordan, a communication major from Las Vegas. “We took a lot of chances that resulted in turnovers, but the main thing was that we weren’t knocking down the open shots, and that hurt us.”
APU also pressed and trapped nearly the entire game as well, which led to 22 DSU turnovers and 12 points off turnovers for the Cougars.
APU jumped out to an early 8-0 lead before DSU finally got on the board. Jordan and junior forward Lisa VanCampen combined to score the final five points of the quarter to make it a 19-10 deficit.
The Cougars opened up the second quarter on another run to make it 26-10. The Trailblazers countered with a run of their own thanks to the shooting of junior guard Matti Ventling and inside play of senior center Hannah Roberts.
After going back and forth in the final minutes of the second quarter, the Trailblazers trailed 31-21 at the half.
Despite outside shooting by Ventling and Jordan, APU put the game out of reach after nailing six more 3-pointers in the third quarter, helping APU outscore DSU by 10 in the period.
DSU would not go away though as another Ventling triple and a Jordan sweeping layup forced APU to call a timeout.
The lead was quickly pushed back to 20 after two more 3-pointers by the Cougars. APU went on to win 69-48.
“We felt like we did a lot of things really well in this game,” assistant coach Brennon Schweikart said. “If not for a couple runs that they went on, the game would’ve been much closer. Win or lose, it’s about how you do it, so we are proud of the effort tonight and look to build on it moving forward.”
Many of the DSU players filed out very quickly following the game and junior guard Monique Washington, a second unit player for the Trailblazers, declined to comment. Schweikart said frustration from the loss would deter many of the players from reaching out or commenting as well.
At 2-10 in Pacific West Conference play, the Trailblazers play Saturday against University of Hawaii-Hilo at Burns Arena at 5 p.m.
