Women's basketball team still in running for PacWest title

The Dixie State women's basketball team won home games over Dominican University 82-65 on Thursday and Academy of Arts University 84-67 on Saturday.

The Lady Red Storm's two victories keep its chance of winning the PacWest conference title a flickering possibility. The team had to guard against overlooking two of the conference's lesser successful teams. In addition to getting the wins, senior forward Tanya Clark became the Red Storm women's all-time steals leader. The ideal situation for the Storm (11-3) requires that they win out, and become benefactors of some crazy scenarios happening to co-PacWest leaders Grand Canyon University (12-2) and Hawaii Pacific (12-1). One such unexpected happening came from last week's earthquake in Chile. The earthquake caused a tsunami warning on the Hawaiian Islands that compelled the PacWest Athletics Administration to cancel its Hawaiian sporting events, including conference leading Hawaii Pacific's game with BYU-Hawaii. The canceled game prevented the Sea Warriors of Hawaii Pacific from distancing themselves from Grand Canyon and DSC in the standings.

The Storm went to work doing what they could control by earning two victories, but they did not come easily. Head coach Angela Kristensen had told her team that losing games at home would be regrettable. "There might be some upsets down the road and you might kick yourselves if you drop one of these games," Kristensen said. The Urban Knights of Academy Arts University came to the Burns arena Saturday afternoon bringing an upset-mindedness with them. At halftime, the Knights held the lead 37-36. The Knights' defense blocked six shots and contributed to the dismal 29 percent field goal shooting by the Storm offense. The Storm shooters went 12-41from the field in the half. However, helping the Storm were plenty of personal fouls by the Knights that provided for 12 free throw attempts. The Storm obliged the Knights' offerings and made nine of the freebies.

Freshman forward Johnna Brown and fellow freshman Deanna Daniels led a second half surge that would produce 48 Storm points against 30 for the Knights. The separation was filled with aggressive passing over the top after defensive rebounding that resulted in lay-ins or foul shots. The Storm went to the line 16 more times in the second half and made ten. Brown, an undecided major from Las Vegas, led the Red Storm with 22 points on 7-15 shooting, drained 8-11 free throws, wrestled for 11 rebounds, dished out four assists to her teammates, and stole the ball five times. Brown said she recognizes that the careers of the seniors on the team are winding down and the team wants to honor them by winning.

"We just played our game in the second half and had some fun," Brown said. "We're trying to play well for the seniors in these last few games." Joining the stat sheet party was Daniels with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and five steals. Brown and Daniels' performances continue to be worthy of strong considerations for PacWest freshman player of the year.

Red Storm forward Tanya Clark, a business administration major from Beaumont, Calif., said playing on the team with Brown and Daniels is a good experience and she appreciates the way they play.

"It is really fun, even when you're on the bench, you get to see their chemistry," Clark said. "If all five players on the court had that kind of chemistry, we'd be unstoppable." She said the future of the Red Storm program is in good hands with Brown and Daniels.

"They are going to be monsters," Clark said. "They're going to get even better in the next few years."

The game also consisted of a milestone for Clark. She became the all-time Red Storm women's basketball steals leader with 100 for her career. Clark entered the game one steal behind record-holder Courtney Boyd (98 steals). She set the record by snaring three steals, in addition to 12 rebounds and nine points. Clark said there are still more opportunities to add to the 100. "I think it's pretty cool; I've been here for two years and didn't expect to do something like that," Clark said. "I still have a couple of games left."

In Thursday's game against the Penguins of Dominican University, the Storm started very slow and it looked like they had some lingering effects from road travel. The Storm returned home from Hawaii Sunday morning and came out of the gate with low energy. The offense started 2-19 from the field with Daniels being the one who had the two field goals. The rest of the team was a reckless 0-12 midway through the first half.

Junior guard Veronica Siqueiros, a nursing major from Phoenix, and senior guard Jesse Ingraham an integrated studies major from Tucson, Ariz., got the team going with some timely shots with about six minutes left in the half. The guards led the team in building a 14-point lead, including a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Siqueiros. They added to the 48-34 halftime lead by staying in the driver's seat and outscoring the Penguins 34-31. Siqueiros led the team in scoring with 18 points. Ingraham and Daniels pitched in 12 a piece.

Kristensen said she looks forward to seeing the team meet the challenges of this week's games and she likes the future as well.

Kristensen said: "I like this team. I think they are athletic. They transition well. They're going to be contending in the next few years."

The Red Storm play University of Hawaii at Hilo Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and the season finale against Hawaii Pacific on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games are at the Burns Arena.