Women: Fighting for a title

staff

Charlie Maricle

The SDSU women’s basketball team looked to forget its recent loss and focused on its conference future.

Augustana and Minnesota State-Mankato found out how focused SDSU can be, losing by a combined 85 points.

SDSU shook off their shooting woes with back to back 100 point games, beating Augie 101-66 and the Mavericks, 101-51.

“I felt like maybe in the last six or seven games before these two games, offensively we’ve been a little bit sluggish, not as sharp as we need to be. And in this past week we just talked about getting a lot more aggressive,” SDSU women’s coach Aaron Johnston said.

That message was received by senior Karly Hegge.

“A loss is always hard but we knew we needed to bounce back and play extra hard so that we can compete for a conference championship,” Hegge said.

After several subpar performances, Hegge contributed 24 points and 17 rebounds in the two games. Against Minnesota State, her aggressiveness resulted in a 10-10 night at the free throw line.

“Everybody needs to go out there, step up and play hard. And I guess that’s just what I’ve tried to do,” Hegge said.

Melissa Pater had 26 points and 13 rebounds Thursday against Augustana. Shannon Schlagel put up 13 in the second half after being held to only four in the first 20 minutes.

Saturday, against the Mavericks, Pater again led the way with 23 points. Schlagel finished with 18. All the starters ended the game in double figures in points.

Health haas become an issue for SDSU as the season winds down.

“We’re not 100 percent healthy by any means,” Johnston said.

Freshman Christina Gilbert has played most of the year with a broken bone in her hand. Sophomore Stephanie Bolden has battled a knee injury this season. Stacie Cizek injured her ankle at USD and was questionable for this weekend. But she managed to play about 22 minutes each game.

“That’s part of our strength, always going out and playing tough no matter how we feel,” Hegge said.

#1.887285:457286850.jpg:WomensB.Ballv.Augie2.20 #1.jpg:Shannon Schalgel fights for a loose ball on Thursday. SDSU is still fighting for the top spot in the NCC.: