DEVILS LAKE — Last week, Lake Region State College women’s basketball lost a heartbreaker.
Against North Dakota State College of Science, the Royals got off to a slow offensive start. They rallied back to take the lead in the third quarter and led by as many as 15, but they took a three-point loss in the end.
This Sunday’s game against United Tribes Technical College had a similar arc. The Royals were down 16-2 before, once again, taking the lead in the third quarter. They saw a double-digit lead evaporate in the fourth quarter — but this time, they pulled out with the win.
LRSC (12-10, 5-1) held on by a thread to beat UTTC (9-12, 2-4) by a score of 75-73.
“It feels great to be on the other side of it,” Royals head coach Colden Hutton said.
The Thunderbirds featured former LRSC player Natalie DeCoteau, who led them with 26 points. Four Winds alumni Alionna Lawrence and Ezura Rainbow had 18 and six points, respectively, for UTTC.
But an explosion of four three-pointers by Thompson native Sydney Schwabe in the third quarter helped LRSC pull ahead. Schwabe led the Royals with 21 points. Jenna Tierney was right behind her with 14 in the second half and 18 overall.
“We definitely learned our lesson last week,” Schwabe said. “The first quarter, we definitely did not come out with energy, but by the second quarter we picked it up, and that’s what got us through the game.”
The Royals found themselves in a 16-2 hole after a 14-0 run. LRSC struggled from three-point range, while UTTC made four triples just in the first few minutes.
“Our energy wasn’t where it needed to be,” Hutton said. “We base ourselves off of our energy and effort, and that’s about where it was to start the game.”
Tierney ended the run with 5:20 left in the first quarter. DeCoteau scored the last six points of the period for the Thunderbirds. It was a 24-8 game going into the second quarter.
The Royals played a better second quarter. Despite starting in such a rut, they got to within seven by halftime.
“[Hutton] was just like, ‘It’s not that the shots aren’t going in; it’s the defense and our energy,’” Schwabe said. “So we really had to pick that up.”
DeCoteau made a three-pointer as part of a 12-point attack in the first half. Fort Totten native Lawrence had eight points for the Thunderbirds. But LRSC had runs of 5-0 and 7-0, fueled by seven second-quarter points by Lara Graham.
“I think we’ve just gotta do a better job of getting ready to go coming out of [the locker room],” Hutton said. “You saw it at Science, and then you saw it at this game that we started off slow. But there’s other games where we start off really well. So it’s a roller coaster for us right now. We’ve just gotta find the answer to come out ready to go every game.”
Graham led the Royals in the first half with nine points off the bench. Her effort included one of just two triples that LRSC landed in the half. The team had yet to successfully shoot a three until about 4:35 in the second quarter, when Arden Faulkner finally made one. The Royals were 2-of-15 overall from three-point range in the half.
“She’s been scoring it very well for us, and she’s one person that continuously gives us energy and effort,” Hutton said of Graham. “That’s something that everybody might look at the stats, but a lot of the times, her stuff doesn’t show up in the stat book. She’s always where she needs to be defensively, but then also, now, building that confidence, getting adjusted to coming over [from Australia] and being able to adjust to our game.”
The energy, which picked up late in the first half, only extended into the third quarter. The crowd got progressively louder with each made shot, including the LRSC men’s team as they waited to play their game.
Schwabe opened the third quarter with a three-pointer, and Tierney made it a two-point game.
Down 42-38, LRSC jumped ahead with an 8-0 run. Faulkner made a three, and Schwabe made two more triples of her own. UTTC responded with a pair of threes, including one by DeCoteau, but Schwabe was locked in. Her fourth three-pointer of the third quarter made it 54-50.
Schwabe had 12 points in the quarter, at the end of which LRSC had a seven-point lead. Tierney also gave the Royals a boost with nine points in the third quarter.
“I keep saying that she’s one of the best shooters in this league,” Hutton said of Schwabe. “And she’s finally showing it off… I think she’s finding her groove. She’s building that confidence, and that’s huge for us.”
Schwabe, a freshman, leads the team with 12.0 points per game.
“It’s definitely more physical, and faster pace,” Schwabe said of the college level. “So we’ve had to react to that.”
Like in last week’s loss to NDSCS, LRSC’s advantage reached double digits in the fourth quarter. But once again, it wasn’t an easy conclusion. The Thunderbirds had a 6-0 run to tie at 69 apiece, with DeCoteau landing two triples in that span.
“I actually told them that after the third quarter,” Hutton said. “We were in this place against Science. Not as big of a lead, but we had to come out and go win it. Against Science, they went out and won it. We’ve gotta come out, ready to go, wanting to win the game.”
Tierney put LRSC back up with about 48 seconds left. UTTC saw a potential go-ahead three-ball roll in and out of the rim, and Schwabe converted a pair of massive free throws with 17.2 seconds left to make it a four-point game.
The Thunderbirds made two free throws of their own. But LRSC, which had struggled from the line for much of the game, put it away with two more successful free throws by Graham. It was a two-possession game, 75-71, with 9.7 seconds left.
UTTC scored on its final possession, but it was for naught. The Royals won to improve to 5-1 in Mon-Dak play. That puts them in a three-way tie for the best conference record, though LRSC has the worst overall record of the three teams. One of those teams is Bismarck State College, the Royals’ Monday opponent this week.
“We’re in a tough spot. It’s top-heavy right now,” Hutton said. “We could go to Bismarck [Monday] and have a battle for first place again. So that’s something that I know our girls are excited for. We’ve just gotta be ready to bring our energy and effort. Tonight took a lot out of us.”