ST. GEORGE. UT – The end of Tuesday night's non-conference game between the Dixie State Red Storm and Notre Dame de Namur could have had darker clouds for the home team if not for strong outside shooting. DSC hit four three-pointers in the second half to build a large enough lead to defeat NDNU 83-78 inside the Burns Arena.

Dixie State swept the two-game series and improved to 10-7 on the year. Notre Dame de Namur dropped to 6-14 on the year having lost four of their last five.

The Red Storm was led in scoring by Shanae Vaifanua (Hurricane, UT/Hurricane) (FR. Hurricane. UT) with 18 points making eight of 15 shots. Vaifanua capped off the night with 11 rebounds for her second career double-double. Starting guards Jessie Ingraham (Tuscon. AZ/Canyon Del Oro) (JR. Tucson. AZ) and Courtney Boyd (Keokuk. IA/Keokuk) (SR. Keokuk. IA) joined Vaifanua in double digits – Ingraham with 12 points and Boyd had 11. Junior-transfer Tanya Clark (Beaumont. CA/Beaumont) (Beaumont. CA) had eight points and eight rebounds in another solid outing against the Argos.

The teams battled scoring run for scoring run in the first half. NDNU's first run. a 7-0 spurt. was capped by one of Tanaia Keyes' three distance shots. Dixie answered with a 6-0 run to lead 16-12 at the 9:27 mark. The Argonauts controlled the pace over the next 4:21 to take a 30-23 advantage. In the final minutes of the half. Dixie outscored NDNU 14-5 to take a two-point halftime cushion at 37-35.

Dixie never surrendered the lead in the second half with early makes at the free-throw line and torrent outside shooting. Courtney Spawn (Mesquite. NV/ Virgin Valley) (FR. Mesquite. NV) hit three big foul shots after getting hit on an attempted three-pointer giving the Red Storm a 49-40 lead. Dixie took control with four straight three-balls in the span of four minutes to push the lead to 16. DSC's biggest advantage was 19 after a layup at 7:49 by Sammi Griffiths (Orderville. UT/Valley) (SO. Orderville. UT).

Notre Dame did not surrender cutting Dixie's lead to six twice before a Britni Rathke three-pointer at the buzzer cut the final spread to five. Rathke had a huge night for NDNU with 31 points and 16 rebounds. her second consecutive double-double against Dixie. Keyes was the only other Argonaut player in double figures with 19 points.

The Red Storm shot 41.7-percent from the field (30-72) including 9-of-16 from beyond the arc (34.6-percent). NDNU finished at 44.3-percent and an outstanding 85-percent from the charity stripe. The Argonauts won the battle of the boards by one. 42-41.

Dixie State will continue Pacific West Conference play Saturday night in the first of four games on the Hawaiian islands. DSC will visit Hawaii-Pacific University on Saturday night January 31 for the first matchup between the schools this season. Game time is 5:30 Hawaiian. 8:30 Mountain. Dixie's next seven games all count toward the conference championship.

Every game of the Hawaiian road trip can be heard on DixieAthletics.com with the voice of the Lady Red Storm. John Potter.

-- John Potter. DSC Red Storm Sports Information