MITCHELL, S.D. -- For the first time in a few years, the Minnesota West women's basketball team opened its season with a victory.
The Lady Jays opened up an early lead and never looked back in a 76-46 win Wednesday night against Dakota Wesleyan's junior varsity in MW's first regular-season game.
"It's always good to get that first win," MW head coach Mike Fury said. "It gives us confidence. It's not that we had a lack of confidence or anything, but it's so nice to get a 'W' early and hopefully we can build off it and have a good weekend coming up here at home."
MW (1-0) had a 14-5 lead early in the game and a 37-21 lead at halftime.
"You never know how you are going to come out," Fury said. "(Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka) and I always talk about coming out quick and hitting the first shot. Well, we didn't hit the first shot, but then we got it going."
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Kristi Skorepa (14 points) led the early charge, scoring seven of the first nine points for the Lady Jays, spurring the early lead.
However, the Tigers made a comeback, cutting the deficit to 18-16 midway through the first half.
Out of the break, the Lady Jays picked up right where they left off.
Sam Lynn (16 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers and Rachel Pavelko (game-high 22 points) had a steal to open up a large lead.
DWU had the deficit to 20 points in the second half, but against a zone defense, MW hit five key 3s, sending the Lady Jays to a 30-point victory.
"It was a good night for us, a very good night," Fury said.
Minnesota West will host the Sanford Regional Hospital Worthington Basketball Classic Friday and Saturday.
The Lady Jays will face Madison Area Technical College on Friday night, beginning at 6 p.m.
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MW 37 39 -- 76
DWU JV 21 25 -- 46
MW (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Pavelko 2-6-4-22, Rients 2-0-0-6, Kramer 1-0-0-3, Smith 0-1-2-4, Lynn 2-3-4-16, Christensen 0-2-1-5, Donkersloot 0-3-0-6, Skorepa 0-6-2-14. Totals 7-21-13-76.
DWU (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Taylor 1-5-1-14, Vroughton 1-0-2-5, Morgan 1-3-2-11, VanderMay 0-3-0-6, Melius 0-2-2-6, Konechne 0-2-0-4. Totals 3-15-7-46.
Men MW 79, DWU 76
MITCHELL, S.D. -- Minnesota West didn't play a perfect game, but the Bluejay men's basketball team came up with the plays when it needed to, claiming a three-point road victory in the first game for MW.
"We learned how to win (Wednesday)," MW head coach Justin Heckenlaible said. "There's no drill for that, you just have to go out and do it and we did it. So we're very, very excited."
The Bluejays (1-0) trailed 44-37 at halftime, but started to chip away at the Dakota Wesleyan lead in the second half.
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Outscoring the Tigers 42-32 in the second frame, MW came up with a big stop at the end.
"With the first game and having to play a lot of new guys and having to play in a tough environment on a road, in the first half we didn't play very well," Heckenlaible said. "We didn't shoot from the free-throw line very well. In the second half we made some plays at the end. Anthony Tomscha got a steal at half court with about 30 seconds left to put us up four and that was how it ended. We did a nice job at the end contesting the 3 and we got the big rebound."
DWU had a chance to tie the game, but MW contested the shot and came down with the rebound, sealing the victory.
John Jones hit six 3-pointers and had a team-high 20 points for MW, while Monte Metz added 13. Alexandros Papageorgiou scored 10 points, while Dennis Bolton had eight points.
MW will look to keep its winning streak alive Friday in the Sanford Regional Hospital Worthington Basketball Classic.
"We have a lot of things to work on and get better," Heckenlaible said. "Now we know what we need to work on.
"We're very excited. We didn't play very well and we still came out with a win."
MW 37 42 -- 76
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DWU JV 44 32 -- 79
MW (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Metz 2-1-5-13, Tomscha 0-3-3-9, Lesnar 0-2-2-6, Papageorgiou 2-2-0-10, Jones 6-1-0-20, Connors 0-0-1-1, Van Duyn 0-1-3-5, Bolton 0-4-0-8, Jarmer 0-2-3-7. Totals 10-16-17-79.
DWU (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) nelson 0-1-4-6, Frederickson 1-0-2-5, Reed 1-0-2-5, Korn 0-0-2-2, Anderson 0-1-0-2, Ball 0-2-4-8, Hallman 6-1-1-21, Dykstra 0-8-11-27. Totals 8-13-26-76.
