SAINT GEORGE, UT-The Dixie State College Women's Basketball team opened up Pacific West Conference play tonight with a 77-35 win over BYU-Hawaii.  

 

The Red Storm (5-5, 1-0 PACWEST) defense stymied the offense of the Seasiders from the onset. The full court pressure forced 19 first half turnovers and held BYU-Hawaii (4-7, 0-1 PACWEST) to just 13 points first half points. BYUH would shoot only 27 percent in the first half and finish the game at 31 percent.

 

For DSC, Tanya Clark (Beaumont. CA/Beaumont) hit a jumper with 9:50 left in the first half to give the Red Storm a 17-4 lead. Clark would finish the game with 10 rebounds and 8 points. Dixie State would lead 29-13 at the break.

 

The DSC offense would continue where they left off, opening the second half on a 24-3 run and building their lead to 37 points on a Shayla Martinez (Las Vegas. NV/Durango) (6 points, 3 rebounds) jumper with 11:08 left in the game.

 

The Red Storm offense saw 13 players score and had Shanae Vaifanua (Hurricane, UT/Hurricane) score 11 points and 2 rebounds, the only DSC player in double figures. Dixie State would shoot 42 percent from the floor.

 

For BYUH, Mahina Gago scored 8 points and collected 8 rebounds.

 

Dixie State won the battle of the boards, collecting 45 to BYUH 36.

 

Dixie State will play again on Saturday night when they play host to Chaminade University at 5:30 PM inside the Burns Arena. The voice of the Red Storm, John Potter, will broadcast the game on 91.3 FM or live on the internet at www.dixieathletics.com.