The Lady Buccaneers came out firing in the first half, scoring 19 points in each of the first two
quarters, while also playing stifling defense to lead the Bismarck State Mystics 38-21 at halftime.
The Mystics fought back and won the third quarter 14-8 to trim the lead slightly, but Dawson
stuck to the game plan and finished the game by winning the fourth quarter 11-9. The final
score was 57-44. Dawson won the rebounding battle 45 – 27, shared the ball with 11 assists in
comparison to 4 from Bismarck and shot a higher field goal percentage. It was the first time
Dawson defeated Bismarck since 2021.

Michelle Arens led Dawson in scoring with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Sabira Ahayeva
had another commanding performance with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Shannon
Burton added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Hailee Brandon and McKenzie Petersen
combined for an additional 11 points and 10 rebounds for the starting lineup. Samantha Jenkins
in her first game back from injury made an immediate impact off the bench by hitting two shots
from beyond the three point line in the first half and Evelyn Old Coyote made her presence felt
by pulling down 5 rebounds and scoring 4 points.

"Two big wins in a row with playoff implications on the line, against good teams that are well
coached is a positive sign for our program as a whole," shared Dawson Coach Rich Mullin. I'm
excited for the opportunity that our ladies have in front of them and as I've stated before, I'm so
proud of their resiliency. We have one more regular season game against a team who has also
been improving throughout the season and we're looking forward to the challenge of taking on
our rivals for sophomore night on Sunday at 2:00 PM. We need our home crowd to come out
again and show their support for these incredibly hard working young ladies."