MONMOUTH, Oregon-November 20, 2010-Breann Hill scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Dixie State College women’s basketball team defeated Saint Martin’s University 70-56 Saturday afternoon at the Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout.
Dixie State trailing 4-2, Hill made a layup and Sheila Adams hit a three pointer with17:42 left in the first half to give the Red Storm a 7-4 lead and the Red Storm never trailed again.
DSC built the lead to nine points on a Shane Vaifanua layup with 11:53 left only to see Saint Martin’s go on a 11-4 run to cut the deficit to one point with 4:31 left in the half.
Three layups by the Red Storm, two by Hill and one by Johnna Brown, led a 6-0 run to enter halftime with a 36-29 lead.
Dixie State continued to keep their distance from the Saints, building their lead to 10 points on a free throw by Johnna Brown with 13:04 remaining in the game.
The Saints would stretch the Red Storm out by going on a 7-2 run and trailed 44-47 with 10:58 remaining.
Dixie State would build its largest lead of the game at 14 points when Rachel Gines hit a layup with 3:55 left to give DSC a 65-51 advantage.
Coach Angie Kristensen said, “I was proud of how we battled all weekend. We had some great stops in the final minutes of the game.”
DSC lost the rebounding battle 35-39 and only shot 20 percent behind the arc, but the Red Storm limited their turnovers to 18, six under their average of 26 per game to win.
The Saints had three players in double figures with Dara Zack and Kellie Snyder scoring 14 each and Marelle Moehrle add 12 points. Saint Martin’s were held to 34.5 percent shooting from the floor.
For Dixie State, Erica Carlson had four blocked shots on the defensive side and Brown chipped in 11 points and Sheila Adams added nine points of her own.
Coach Kristensen continued, “It’s early and we can improve on a lot of things but, I am excited about the possibilities.”
Next up for the Red Storm is a trip to Grand Junction, CO for a tournament at Mesa State College. Dixie State will play University of Texas of the Permian Basin on Friday at 1:00 PM and host Mesa State College at 5:00 PM. Both games will be broadcast live on 91.3 FM and on www.dixieathletics.com with “Voice of the Red Storm” John Potter.
NOTES: Breann Hill was named MVP of the 2010 Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout by scoring 36 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in the two games. Johnna Brown was named to the all-tournament team by scoring 38 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the two games.