Pride handle the NAIA Semifinals with 79-69 win over Dakota State

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Playing in the first NAIA Tournament Semifinal in school history, the Clarke University women's basketball team was able to take Dakota State University's best shot to a 79-69 win to head to the NAIA National Championship Game on Saturday night.

The Pride and Trojans traded blows in the first quarter as DSU was able to cut a four-point lead at the end of the period to a 22-21 advantage for CU with a corner three at the buzzer to get a little momentum heading into the second. 

That momentum carried into the second quarter as Dakota State took their largest lead of the game at the end of a 16-6 run to lead 37-28 before Clarke answered with a 17-3 run to take a 45-40 lead into halftime to weather that storm and never trail since that time. 

As a team, Clarke shot 29-of-63 (46%) from the field while limiting the Trojans to 23-of-64 (35.9%) from the field as DSU took 36 three-point shots and made only 10, the same amount that the Pride attempted from deep in the game.

CU also held a significant rebounding advantage as they finished grabbing 51 total boards to just 28 from Dakota State with the Trojans primarily played a zone, helping Clarke grab 17 offensive rebounds, almost matching Dakota State's 19 defensive rebounds.

Clarke was able to work their offense through Taylor Haase in the post as she finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field while grabbing six rebounds while going 6-of-7 from the free throw line. 

Three other Pride players finished in double figures led by Giana Michels' 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, Nicole McDermott finished with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Tina Ubl scored 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting. 

On her second bucket of the night, Ubl became the program's all-time leading scorer, passing Makenna Haase's 1,975-point total as she now sits at 1,983 with one game remaining.

For Dakota State, they had three players in double figures led by Elsie Aslesen's 14 points as Savannah Walsdorf added 13 and Courtney Menning had 10 points with Lilli Mackley and Caitlin Dyer adding nine then Angela Slattery finishing with eight points.

Clarke women's basketball will now head to the NAIA National Championship game on Saturday night as they will take on Cramer Quadrant No. 1 seed and defending tournament champion from the 2021-22 season in Thomas More University for a 7:00 p.m. CT start in the Tyson Events Center as the game will air on ESPN3.