DEVILS LAKE — The Royals stayed undefeated in conference play Sunday afternoon.
Lake Region State College women’s basketball (10-9, 3-0), playing its first home game of the new year, rode a dominant second half to take down Dakota College at Bottineau (7-8, 0-2) 78-46 at the Devils Lake Sports Center. Five players reached double figures. They converted 12 three-pointers and outscored the Lumberjacks 44-18 in the second half.
“I thought the first half was kind of just okay for us,” Royals head coach Colden Hutton said. “And then we really turned it on in the second half… Yes, we scored a lot. We shot it very well. But I’m super proud of how we played defensively… Total team effort.”
Kiara Holweger had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Arden Faulkner led with 16 points, while Sydney Schwabe had 15 and Nicole Lillard also had 14. Lara Graham scored 11 off the bench. Brinly Gregory also got substantial time off the bench and made a pair of triples in her fifth game back from injury.
The team is rolling with just seven players after Elizabeth Kisolo and Morgan Leas both went down with season-ending injuries.
Leas will get surgery this week.
“Unfortunately, Morgan is out for the year,” Hutton said. “But she’s gonna be at all our games. And she’s a great glue person for us, which is awesome.”
LRSC took the early advantage on Sunday. Bottineau had a 6-0 run, but it was sandwiched by 4-0 and 11-0 runs by the Royals to boost them ahead 15-6. LRSC did a nice job grabbing defensive rebounds and spreading the ball around. The Royals had 20 defensive boards in the first half compared to Bottineau’s 14.
The Jacks had already committed five fouls by the 4:50 mark in the first quarter. They finally ended the run with their second triple of the game. LRSC maintained a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter — with five points from each of Faulkner, Schwabe and Holweger.
Bottineau clawed LRSC’s lead down to 28-27 in the second quarter. The Jacks struggled with their long-range shots, going just 2-of-14 from three-point range, plus they only made 4-of-9 free throws. But LRSC got sloppy in the paint and Bottineau edged forward on a 12-6 mini-run.
The Royals regained some breathing room on threes from Schwabe and Holweger. They went into the halftime break leading 34-28. Holweger had 10 points at the half, while Schwabe had eight and Faulkner had seven.
Holweger also had eight rebounds in the first half, and finished with 13 overall for the double-double.
“She’s been unreal for us these past couple weeks,” Hutton said. “She’s 5-8 — if you give her that; might be even shorter than that — but she rebounds really well for us… She’s by far the smallest big that any team has. Truly proud of her and where she’s come from.”
The Royals really took off in the third quarter. They opened on 9-1 and 14-5 runs, getting two more triples from Faulkner and one more from each of Schwabe and Gregory. They didn’t allow a field goal until the 3:51 mark.
“A big thing was just staying locked in for all 30 seconds defensively,” Hutton said. “At times in the first half, we lost track of it, lost track of the ball, stuff like that. Seeing both. But I think in the second half, we were really good at staying locked in and finishing possessions. And also just taking care of the ball in the second half, too. Not having any careless turnovers or anything like that.”
A 14-0 run carried into the fourth quarter, extending LRSC’s lead to as many as 28 points. Lillard, the reigning Mon-Dak Player of the Week, had had a quiet game with no field goals. But she exploded for three triples in the fourth quarter. Schwabe also made her third three-pointer, tying her with Lillard and Faulkner for the team lead.
“She’s a great addition for us,” Hutton said of Schwabe. “She’s a great leader for us, too. You don’t see that a lot in freshmen, but she’s a great leader, getting in the gym on her own time; all the things that you look for in a great point guard.”
Gregory made her second three in the fourth quarter, giving her two in as many tries. It was her fifth game back from injury, helping ease the losses of Kisolo and Leas.
Gregory is the first Devils Lake alum in three years to play for an LRSC basketball team.
“It helps, too, just being able to play games in her high school gym,” Hutton said. “She’s super comfortable playing here. It’s great to get her back into the rotation, get her feel back after being out almost all of first semester.”
Bottineau finished just 2-of-24 from three-point range, including 0-of-10 in the second half. What was once a close game became a 32-point rout for the Royals.
Their army of seven, though, with the schedule changes compared to last year, will have to play Monday games after Sunday games throughout the season. Hutton is aware of the challenge that presents.
“Day-ones are gonna be great for us. We have a lot of energy,” Hutton said. “Day-twos is probably where we’re gonna struggle a little bit. Playing 40 minutes, and then turning around on Mondays and playing 40 minutes again; we’ve just gotta be able to play through being tired. But I love our group. We’re a great group both on the court, but also off the court as well.”