OCR Text |
Show .joi WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, (O jft CD' C 2016 liilM fL -- rv sharks Ov ILdillli ,ijA r he DIXIESUNNEWS.COM - 5 i I 1 vii king. xklij(t bin CrS rsonali r: Land, v., Jlelooi. 1 rebounds. Ogden electrified the crowd with a dunk of his own in the second half, this one off of a pass from senior guard Robbie Nielson. Now we just need to be consistent and play like this every night, said Ogden Jr., a business administration major from Spring Valley, California. Teamwork is a major key. Senior guard Mason Sawyer had 16 points in the win, going 8 from distance and adding four rebounds and three assists. On Sawyers third make from beyond the arc, he moved into sole possession of third place on DSUs made list (112), behind only DeQuan Thompson (130) and Tom Whitehead (145). We have to keep stringing together good practices and keep having fun through the process, said Sawyer, a psychology major from West Jordan. Our record isn't what we hoped it would be at this point, but we understand how much we still have to play for. Sophomore guard Brandon Simister kept up his hot shooting from Hawaii. He tacked on 13 points on 5 from the filed and 7 from the charity stripe. The Storm, now 5 in Pacific West Conference play, 10-- 8 overall, put themselves in position to control their own destiny down the stretch. The top six teams make the conference tournament, and Saturdays win moved DSU into a tie for that coveted sixth place. We knew it was a big game for us, Sawyer said. We tried to make the easy play and didn't force or rush any shots. It all seemed to click and come together 4-- 'fit, bu c. - N, look s mem- rvv Tv ? - 'S,C0l youUgt lever?" e didnt ploy. Itlie i mi some-- i school) which some it patch, rhe otheihtM ent cme watch the Dixie and r part an , State Tournament areal ry sted. 3-- c 7-- Feb. 5-- at 7 Karl j grouptf J Brooks Field. not be 7-- categcr :hunkc 'ho Sophomore guard Trevor Hill prepares for take off as the Storm coast to a 84-6- 3 victory over Hawaii Pacific University. Dixie State University currently sits at seventh in the PacWest Conference but hopes to take the top spot during its next four home games com entire k these qit ' Vv VWf T''-- CJtMrt' . lever all-ti- gon t ',. tc BY PORTER LARSEN JT; v tupid. , PLarsenDSN T'r -'- 1 i fi Dixie State University basketball hit the ground running after returning home from a road trip that landed it in the Hawaiian Islands. Following a 1 stint in the Aloha State, the Storm came back to Bums Arena to start five game a season-lon- g home-stanand it paid dividends in the 3 win over Hawaii Pacific Univer2-- UPCOMING GAMES d, 84-6- able to come back home after a long road trip, head coach Jon Judkins said. I think we played with an energy and chemistry that I hadn't seen in a while, and I think the home crowd had something to do with it. The crowd, 3,167 strong, gave a warm welcome to Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky for the night. Rocky performed acts during timeouts, including a dunk-shothat was only rivaled by sophomore guard slam. Trevor Hills Hill blocked a shot on one w first-ha- lf sity. Its always good to be end of the floor and then around a Shark defender on his way to a posterizing dunk that gave DSU, and the crowd, a huge boost of energy. The dunk gave the Storm an early lead that they never relinquished. They led en route to the victory and, in DSU fashion, upset the favorited HPU Sharks. Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. continued his high level of play by tallying 26 points on 7 from the field and pulling in 13 euro-stepp- ed wire-to-wi- re 20-poi- nt 12-1- tonight. Next up for the Storm is another Saturday night home matchup against a higher ranked PacWest foe, this time against California Baptist University. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. in Bums Arena. Softball set high sights on season BY PORTER LARSEN PLarsenDSN After coming up just one win shy of a national championship two years in a row, the No. 2 Storm are ready to take the country by storm once again. 2014 and 2015 were both g years for the DSU softball team, and 2016 looks to be just as exciting. The 2014 season resulted in a school-recor- d 5 1 wins and a heartbreaking loss to West Texas A&M University in the national title game. Even after setting the bar so high, the Storm exceeded expectations and broke their own record with 52 wins and another title game appearance in the 2015 campaign. The Storm were selected this year by coaches to repeat as Pacific West Conference champions and slated as the No. 2 team in the country behind University of North Georgia, the team that beat DSU 0 in the NCAA final last May. Head coach Randy however, said the team hasn't accomplished everything it wanted to just yet. Our goal every year is to improve off of what we did in the past, Simkins said. The only way to really improve now would be to win a national championship. We can't go in with that mindset, though. We have to take it one pitch at a time, and well put ourselves in a good position in the end. The 2015 PacWest Coach of the Year has an exceptional chance to do exactly that as he returns numerous pivotal players from previous years. record-breakin- 5-- Sim-kin- s, see SOFTBALL page 6 Women struggle, drop second in a row BY DRAYSON BALL DraysonNews Softball vs. Humboldt State University Feb. 5 at 3 p m. Two consecutive losses this week plagued the Dixie State University womens basketball team to a 4 the first of overall record which pitted the Storm 4-1- oinionB Baseball vs. Cal State jccessfu The Storm came into the game following a victory against Chammade University, but the good fortune didnt hold up Tuesday and" ng distal iy base? lining I1 jve cashed1 n up se' l0nes. nich aomia Baptist University y0" into runt unning8 zable sf ca!fornia Baptist University in a ye iter first ,nd n Baseball vs. Cal State So yu1 a ; gd 8 San Bernardino Feb. 7 at noon invest11' ie best0' rgj ish iume' me against Brigham Young University-Hawai- i. ot .tten r San Bernardino Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. in Softball vs. Colorado State University Feb. 7 at 12:30 p.m. night. DSU shot for just under 44 percent from the field in the first half but allowed BYUH to connect on nearly 55 percent of its attempts. The Storm also committed nine fouls during the first half, which sent the Seasiders to the line 14 times. BYUH sunk 13 of those foul shots. We just didnt hit shots, head coach Jenny Thigpin said. At the end of the day, we didnt execute and didnt communicate in transition Junior guard Aliya Davis strides up the court with the ball during the Storm's University has struggled to find a rhythm this season with a record of 1 4 the Pacific West Conference 4-- defense, and thats what hurt us. We have to be able to communicate in transition. The Storm committed 19 turnovers, which helped allow the Seasiders to outscore them in every quarter of the game. DSU never led in the game and eventually fell by a final score of Senior center Taylor Mann led the way for the Storm as 92-7- 9. (4-- 61 8 -- 70 loss against Hawaii Pacific University Dixie State conference play), sitting fourth from the bottom in in she recorded a double-doubl- e with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Sandria Bolden recorded 14 points, while senior guard Leslie Tademy finished with 13 points and seven assists. Junior guard Tomorie Sangster chipped in 10 points in the losing effort. Following the loss, DSU returned home to take on the see WOMEN page 6 |