Something special is brewing within the Lake Region State College women’s basketball team right now.
Head coach Ryan Clark’s damp hair after being drenched in the locker room said it all after yet another Royals win on Sunday. Just four days after beating second-place North Dakota State College of Science, the Royals put a similar beating on first-place Williston State College — a team that hadn’t lost a conference game all season.
“We’re getting better,” Clark said. “We’re getting more confidence, and we’re growing as a team. It’s awesome.”
Against a Tetons team (18-3, 11-1) that was averaging 77.7 points per game coming into the day, the Royals (14-7, 7-5) won 66-57 at Devils Lake Sports Center. It was another defensive masterclass from LRSC, with enough offense to get the job done.
“It’s so rewarding. As a team, we work so hard every day,” sophomore forward Kyla Fitzgerald said. “And to be playing as great as we are defensively, it really feeds into our offense because we have a wide, wide range of scorers on our team.”
These last two wins were preceded by a loss to United Tribes Technical College, which ended the Royals’ nine-game winning streak. Instead of letting the loss deflate them, they’ve used it as motivation to beat two teams that were supposedly better than them.
“That loss was really important for us,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that really put things into perspective. We can be a great team when we choose to be.”
And this latest triumph didn’t even require the same level of heart-pounding intensity that Wednesday’s did. After initially trailing 5-1 at the start of the game, the Royals battled to go up 7-6.
They never trailed again.
LRSC edged out WSC 13-11 at the end of the first quarter, with the Tetons missing a three at the buzzer. Anisah Wolf, who had 15 points in the game, made a three-pointer for LRSC.
Brooke Kleinig came out with two threes in the second quarter, and Nicole Lillard added another. The Royals’ lead burst open to 28-16.
“They all are capable shooters,” Clark said. “It’s just confidence. And now it’s starting to go in.”
Shooting was one of their biggest issues in that loss to UTTC, but the team has seen noticeable improvement in that area ever since. The Royals made 11 of their 22 field goals and five of their 10 three-point attempts in the first half on Sunday.
The Tetons gradually tried to claw their way back in it during the third quarter, trimming the deficit to as close as 40-35. But Kelsey Crossan, the team’s top shooter this season, returned from the bench and made her first two points of the day.
Fitzgerald followed with a three, and it was back to a double-digit lead for LRSC.
“It’s always great to feel like you’re helping the team in some way,” Fitzgerald said. “But same goes to anyone else who hit down an open three; we found them, and they hit that open three, and that helped us get up in the end.”
The Tetons tried to counter, but they missed a pair of threes. The Royals’ defensive pressure wouldn’t allow them to get in comfortable positions to shoot. WSC’s 57 point total was its lowest of the season. A defense-minded team all season, LRSC is seeing its hard work and persistence pay off.
“It’s just great to see how the team has evolved over the season,” Crossan said, “and how us really working together is getting us these big wins.”
Fitzgerald made her third three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter, keeping the Royals’ lead in the double digits. Lillard made a layup while falling backward and inducing a foul, keeping the advantage steady at 54-44.
Two quick threes kept the game alive for the Tetons, who cut it down to 58-52 with 2:56 left in the game. The next three-point attempt was an airball, though, and Kleinig got the Royals back in the points column. She added four free throws at the end of the game and finished with 15 points overall.
WSC kept it relatively interesting by swishing a three with 27.3 seconds left, but it was too little, too late as a couple more free throws by Fitzgerald made it a three-possession game. Fitzgerald couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she dribbled the ball during the final seconds, safely securing the second upset victory for the Royals this week.
Perhaps they shouldn’t have been counted out so easily.
“It shows our heart,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re a team that has a big, connected heart, and we all work 100% harder than most people. It feels really great to have a team that has the same mentality: Win at all costs. And do it for each other.”
The Royals have turned their season around en route to third place in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference after a 3-6 start to the season.
“I think it’s a little bit misconstrued, the stuff about where we were as a team,” Clark said. “Earlier in the year, we had Natalie miss a lot of games. We had Anisah miss some games. We had Kelsey missing games. We were never overly healthy at the start of the year. But at the same time, that’s created opportunities for others, allowed others to improve.”
Natalie DeCoteau had to miss Sunday’s game due to a sore back — a day-to-day issue, per Clark — and Crossan didn’t have her best game with only two points. But this team still did enough to beat a previously undefeated team in conference play, and these last two wins have undoubtedly made a statement in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference. Once a team discounted for the bottom half of the standings, the Royals have proven they can handle any level of opponent if they apply themselves and play their game.
“It proves that we can compete, and we’re right there,” Clark said. “But there’s still plenty of work to do. So as happy as we are about [the wins], pretty much gotta forget about this win here in a couple hours and start focusing on Dawson [Community College], who got us last time, so it’ll be another tough one as well.”
The Royals have a road trip to Montana on tap next, playing DCC (6-15, 6-6) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., then Miles Community College (6-16, 3-10) on Thursday at noon.
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
