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KEARNEY - Debi Johnson's 3-pointer at the buzzer drew iron, but not net, and the University of Nebraska at Kearney women's basketball team failed to connect with its first victory.

"Oh and four doesn't set well with me," UNK coach Carol Russell said after the Lopers lost to Dakota State, 63-62, Saturday afternoon at the UNK Health and Sports Center.

But 0-4 is where the Lopers sit after losing to a 3-5 NAIA team that was playing an exhibition. It's the first 0-4 start for UNK since the 1974-75 season.

"I don't really feel we're necessarily doing the steps forward to get better that we need to do to be a good basketball team," Russell said. "This doesn't feel very good right now. ... We've got to get better."

The Trojans, who have lost to Wayne State and Hastings College, jumped on the Lopers early, making their first seven shots from the floor. The hot start got Dakota State off to a 10-3 lead - a lead they wouldn't give up until UNK freshman Kelsey Lane took a feed from Johnson for a layup with 5 minutes, 5 seconds left in the game.

That lead lasted 45 seconds.

The Trojans' Allegra Kohley made a free throw nine seconds later and Alyssa Kirk, who led all scorers with 16 points, got to the basket at the 4:19 mark.

UNK would lead again, and Johnson's 3-pointer with 2:58 left gave the Lopers their biggest lead, 62-60.

But UNK didn't score again, and Dakota State's Angela Green made 3 of 4 free throws in the last minute and a half to pull out the win for the Trojans. It was Green's only points of the game and her last one came with 3.8 seconds left as she was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound.

"They went to their go-to kids. You could tell they had played more tames that we have, and sometimes that makes a difference this time of year," Russell said.

Johnson led UNK with 14 points, while Lane had 11 and Vanessa Leeper scored 10.

UNK finished the game shooting 37 percent, while Dakota State shot 47 percent.

"We're not in flow. We're behind because of numbers, but we're at a point now where we have to move forward from that because we do have numbers. We have to start developing the chemistry we're going to need," Russell said.

e-mail to:

buck.mahoney@kearneyhub.com

PHOTOS: for photos from the game, click here.

 

Dakota State 63, UNK 62

DAKOTA STATE (3-5)

Lashonda Martin 3-4 0-0 7, Alyssa Kirk 5-13 4-4 16, Eilesse Washington 6-9 1-2 13, Katie Bourk 0-5 3-4 3, Donna Lavea 3-7 0-0 6, Brittany Bemis 2-3 00 5, Phylicia Hoffman 1-1 0-0 3, Angela Green 0-1 3-4 3, Allegra Kohley 2-4 3-8 7. Total 22-47 14-22 63.

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (0-4)

Kelsey Lane 5-8 1-2 11, Debi Johnson 4-18 4-4 14, Kim Thissen 3-7 0-0 6, LeaAnn Jameson 2-3 0-0 5, Vanessa Leeper 4-7 2-2 10, Sarah Ludwick 0-0 0-0 0, Tessa Kreutzer 3-12 1-2 8, Miki Wulf 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Becker 2-6 4-6 8, Kim Rickels 0-1 0-0 0. Total 23-62 12-16 62.

Halftime - Dakota State 34, UNK 31.

3-point goals - DSU 5-14 (Kirk 2-6, Martin 1-2, Bemis 1-2, Hoffman 1-1, Bourk 0-2, Washington 0-1), UNK 4-17 (Johnson 2-9, Kreutzer 1-4, Jameson 1-2, Leeper 0-1, Rickels 0-1). Rebounds - DSU 35 (four with 5), UNK 35 (Johnson 7). Total fouls - DSU 15, UNK 18. Fouled out - Washington. Assists - DSU 10 (Martin 3, Bourk 3), UNK 17 (Johnson 6). Turnovers - DSU 26, UNK 19. Blocked shots - DSU 2 (Washington 1, Lavea 1), UNK 1 (Lane). Steals - DSU 7 (Washington 2, Green 2), UNK 11 (Becker 3). Att. - 311.