OMAHA, Neb. – Another Great Plains Athletic Conference game, another nationally rated opponent.

Eleventh-rated Dakota Wesleyan used a 44-22 rebounding advantage to open some breathing room, then went on to defeat College of Saint Mary 79-42 Saturday in GPAC basketball action at the Lied Fitness Center.

CSM (1-5 overall, 0-3 GPAC) has faced the Nos. 1, 5 and 11 teams in the NAIA Top 25 in its first three GPAC games, after exhibition games with NCAA Division I Omaha and NCAA Division II Nebraska at Kearney.

"We've had a rough couple weeks, but we've also been playing really tough teams,'' CSM Coach Natalie Miller said. "It feels like a lot of losses. It feels hard and it feels like the season's long. But we have a team full of ladies that are going to return next year. This year is us rebuilding and learning and growing. We just have to focus on continuing to get better. Our focus going forward is just to stay the course, stay the course.''

The Flames trailed just 15-11 with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter after Haley Debuse's 3-pointer and an Aleigha Jackson jumper. However, the taller, deeper Tigers (5-2, 2-1) went on an 18-2 run to break the game open. DWU had 11 of its 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, leading to a 13-0 edge in second-chance points before the intermission.

"The hardest thing for us was just rebounding,'' Miller said. "Our size definitely doesn't help us, but we're not intentional enough about doing that. We did a good job guarding. We just gave up too many rebounds in that first spurt.''

Dakota Wesleyan led 37-19 at the half and 61-34 after three quarters.

Debuse led the Flames with 12 points, hitting 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. Jackson added 11 points. Madelyn Gaughen led CSM with seven rebounds.

CSM made just 2 of 18 (11.1%) from 3-point range. Several of the attempts came late in the shot clock.

"Offensively, we've been talking a lot about spacing and shot selection,'' Miller said. "Today, our spacing was really bad and that hurt us offensively.''

CSM will return home Tuesday night for another GPAC game at 6 against Doane University.