Lady Storm Headed to National Tournament

The wins just keep on coming. The Lady Storm’s 14th straight win was also its biggest. The team captured the District F Championship with a 69-53 win over Dakota College—Bottineau at the Truman Center, Sunday, Mar. 8.

“It’s great feeling,” Head Coach Vicki Wooton exclaimed following the win.

“I’m so happy for the ladies to get to this point, from losing earlier in the year,” Wooton added.

On Jan. 7, Southeast got blown out by No. 1-ranked Johnson County 76-45 at home and was 10-6 on the season.

The team has not lost since.

“We decided we could play defense,” Wooton explained. “We started moving the ball inside and out, and we cut back on that extra pass … which gave us better shots.”

The Lady Storm employed great defense to slow down the Lady Jacks, who brought in two high-flying scorers in Chelsey Frazier (24.4 pts) and Imani Scott (22.4 pts).

Dakota College Head Coach Wayne Johnson gave props to the SCC defense in his blog at http://coachjbbblog.blogspot.com/.

“Imani and Chelsea were really hounded and held in check by their aggressive defensive play,” Johnson wrote.

The defense held Frazier and Scott to 14 and 9 points, respectively.

Wooton said the biggest difference between the two teams was Southeast’s bench, and Johnson concurred, writing that SCC had a “deep and talented team.”

Freshman Shanae Collins came off the bench to lead the team with 17 points, and Erin Saathoff knocked down two threes.

The coach said the team also benefited from seldom-used reserve Jamaica Wilson, who stepped up in the absence of Veshae Wilkinson.

“She knew the team was going to need her,” Wooton said. “She had good passes, and rebounded well.”

Sophomore Dionne Martin controlled the post, blocking seven shots to go along with nine points.

“She did a great job,” Wooton said. “We were hoping she would score more underneath, but (Dakota College) did a good job defending her. She did other things, like stepping out and hitting threes.”

The team moves on to the NJCAA national tournament, which is held March 16-21 in Overland Park, Kan.

Wooton took the 2011-2012 team to the National tournamentl, and she thinks this year’s team is even better.

“I think we are much stronger than we were three years ago,” she said. “We have more depth, and it makes all difference in the world.”