Julie Buchanan Photography

Women's Basketball 2/7/2014 10:51:00 AM Jeff Cluff, Coordinator of Media Relations

WBB: Game Notes #20 vs. Holy Names (2/8)

Dixie State vs. Holy Names
Game Details	Game 20 - Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5:00 p.m. vs. Holy Names Burns Arena (4,779) St. George, UT
Game Coverage	TV: None \| Radio: 91.3 FM Live Video: via DixieAthletics.com Live Stats: via DixieAthletics.com Live Audio: DixieAthletics.com/Showcase Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DixieWBB
Dixie State Links	\| Roster \| Schedule

GAME INFO: Dixie State has reached the halfway point through it's six game home stand and welcome the Holy Names University Hawks to the Burns Arena on Saturday night for a 5 p.m. tip-off. Live stats, live audio, and live video with the links available on DixieAthletics.com. John Potter, "Voice of the Red Storm," will cover play by play via DixieAthletics.com Showcase and 91.3 FM.

ROAD TO SAN DIEGO: As we cruise into February, the Road to San Diego is beginning to look a little clearer. The top seeds have comfortable leads for now, but with four weeks of games left, anything can happen. The PacWest Basketball Tournament will be held at Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium from March 6-8.

On the women's side, Academy of Art pushed its lead for the No. 1 seed to three games over Hawai'i Pacific. ART U dominated two road games, while HPU split a pair of games at home. One of those wins for the Sea Warriors was against California Baptist and gave them some extra cushion for the first-round bye.

With both teams winless on the week, Dixie State maintained a slim half-game lead over Hawaii Hilo for the fourth spot. Dominican broke away from a crowded group battling for the sixth seed by earning a historic win on the road at Dixie in a 1-1 week. NDNU is two wins behind in seventh, with Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii close behind.

ALL-TIME vs. HNU: Holy Names leads the all-time series, 1-0.

LAST TIME AGAINST the HAWKS: After missing the previous game due to injury, Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial ) scored 27 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for her 12th double double of the season in a 76-65 loss to Holy Names inside the Tobin Gym in Oakland, Calif. 29 turnovers were too much for the Red Storm to overcome as they drop to 11-11 overall and 9-5 in the PacWest. Brown was the only player to score in double figures as DSC managed to shot just 34.8 percent from field and 54.8 (17-31) from the free throw line. Trailing 25-35 at the half, the Hawks managed to build their lead to 18 points in the second half. The Red Storm continued to chip away at the HNU lead and used a 7-2 run with 3:35 left to cut the lead to seven points. But, the advantage was too much to overcome. Chanel Maxey (Anaheim, CA/Canyon) score seven points and grabbed seven rebounds. With the win the Hawks improve to 11-12 overall and 5-9 in the PacWest. Four HNU players scored in double figures, including a game high 26 points from Britney Potestio.

SCOUTING HOLY NAMES: The Hawks enter the contest with a 9-10 overall record and 5-8 mark in the PacWest. They have dropped lost four games and eight of their last 10 after starting the season 7-2. Holy Names is led in scoring by Sonia Aguilar at 19.6 ppg and followed by Britney Potsetio at 14.3 ppg. Their leading rebounder is Regique Fitzpatrick at 9.8 rpg for a team that averages 41.1 rpg. The Hawks turnout 71.1 ppg, shooting the ball at a 36.5 percent clip from the field and 30.9 percent from behind the arc. They are also a great free throw shooting team averaging 72.5 percent from the line. The team only turns the ball over 16.5 times per game, while forcing their opponents to 18. Head coach Dave Covell is in his first year as the head coach of the Hawks after spending the last nine seasons as the head coach at NAIA California Maritime Academy.

LAST TIME OUT: The Dixie State University women's basketball team lost a 64-47 Pacific West Conference game to Dominican University on Saturday night in the Burns Arena.The loss is the second straight for the Red Storm as they move to 8-11 overall and 6-7 in the PacWest. Haley Holmstead (American Fork, UT/American Fork) led DSU with 15 points in the loss. For Domincan, they won the game on the glass by outrebounding Dixie State 59-37 to improve to 5-15 overall and 5-9 in the PacWest. Quewon-Owens led the Penguins with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The two main areas of difference came via the paint and free throws. T he Penguins outrebounded the Red Storm 59-37 and garnered 16 more attempts from the charity stripe. In other words, Dominican was the aggressor in this matchup, which is an unusual characteristic for Dixie State given their play this season. Dominican entered with a lackluster overall record of 4-15, and on paper, didn't seem like they could match up with Dixie State's talent level. Nevertheless, those evaluations and figures didn't mean anything once tipoff commenced. Even if the Red Storm might have overlooked their opponent is beside the point. What does matter is Dixie State missed an opportunity to make up ground in the standings against a team that they theoretically should have beaten. Both teams played a physical matchup that featured a back-and-forth flow in the first half. Dixie State (8-11 overall, 6-7 Pac West) was paced by Haley Holmstead (American Fork, UT/American Fork), who continues to be on the path of landing a spot on the all-Pac West team. She got off to another great start, scoring DSU's first nine points, which was highlighted by her baseline drive where she drew contact to get the and-1 sequence. Her ensuing free throw gave the Red Storm an early 9-8 lead.
Holmstead knows there is still work to be done before the start of the Pac West Conference tournament next month. And if the Red Storm are to snap their current two-game skid and four of their last five overall, she will likely be the individual to lead their turnaround. After a 30-30 tie at halftime, the Penguins built momentum in the second half and soon took control with a 12-2 run. Holmstead's minutes were cutback in the second half as Turner hoped to speed the game up and switch their defensive schemes. At any rate, the Penguins rolled on both ends of the court, holding the Red Storm to just 21 percent from the floor (7 of 32) in the final 20 minutes. In addition, they produced 11 more free throws in that span. Dixie State would cut the deficit to 51-41 with about five and a half minutes left, but never could get any closer than that. Kaylah Miller (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day) added eight points, but went just 3 of 14 from the field. Brianna White (Phoenix, AZ/Tolleson Union) had eight points and Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, UT/Emery) had five rebounds in the losing effort. Turner said the Red Storm are building a program and the players need to understand they can't get wins just by showing up. She added and their focus next week will be on getting this group in the right mindset with an extra focus on defense.

RED STORM NOTES: The Red Storm look to snap its two game skid with a win over the Hawks. This will be the first time head coach Catherria Turner meets her former employer. DSU enters with an 8-11 overall record and 6-7 PacWest mark. After rattling off four straight victories, the Storm are 2-5 in its last seven contests. Senior guard Haley Holmstead (American Fork, UT/American Fork) continues to pace the Storm with 21.6 ppg, good enough to stay on top of the scoring leaders in the PWC. Kaylah Miller (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day) adds 13.3 ppg and Brianna White (Phoenix, AZ/Tolleson Union) enters off the bench with 9.3 ppg to give DSU the needed support. Haileigh Emerine (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork) (7.9 rpg) and Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, UT/Emery) (7.5 rpg) help pace the PacWest team leaders in rebounds in which DSU averages 51.7 rpg.

The Storm average 72.4 ppg and will look to try and rebound after its lowest output of the season just a week ago. DSU is shooting 36.8 percent from the field and 26.6 percent from behind the arc. The real issue for the DSU squad has been allowing 77.5 ppg and committing 21 turnovers per game. DSU looks to try and build some momentum as they head down the stretch towards postseason.

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