BROOKINGS – Another strong second half led South Dakota State to a 2-0 start in Summit League play as the Jackrabbits beat North Dakota State 83-63 in a women’s basketball game Saturday afternoon at Frost Arena.

SDSU led 37-34 at the break, before outscoring the Bison 25-10 in the third quarter to take control. The margin peaked at 24 points – 73-49 – with 6 minutes remaining.

“It was another good win; similar feel to our game on Wednesday against Omaha where we had a very close first half and in the second half, things just fell into place a little bit better,” said South Dakota State coach Aaron Johnston. “We made some more shots at times, but I thought our defense was better in the second half.

“I thought (our defense) was pretty good at times in the first half, we just didn’t finish possessions. We ran them late in the shot clock a number of times in the first half and just would have a minor slipup or breakdown. (NDSU) capitalized on all of them; made a lot of shots in that first half.

“So all-in-all, I thought we defended really well, just needed to finish a little better. In the second half, we finished better and that translated into a little bit better offense, too.”

NDSU shot 63.6 percent (14-of-22) in the opening half, making 14 of its first 17 attempts from the field.

Madison Guebert scored a game-high 18 points for the Jackrabbits. Macy Miller added 14, while reserves Tylee Irwin and Tagyn Larson contributed 13 apiece.

SDSU scored the first 11 points after the break. Miller and Guebert sandwiched 3-pointers around a Myah Selland bucket and Ellie Thompson converted a traditional 3-point play to make it 48-34 at the 6:33 mark of the third.

Irwin provided all the scoring during an 8-2 spurt later in the period that pushed the advantage to 58-40. SDSU was up 62-44 heading to the fourth.

“We really just try to stay in our roles that we have in practice,” Irwin, a freshman, said of the team’s strong second unit. “Obviously, you don’t want any drop off or anything like that. We just stay in our system and we move the ball around and don’t do anything outside of the system.”

Sarah Jacobson paced the Bison (7-9, 0-2) with 16 points, hitting four treys. Michelle Gaislerova added 14 points and Emily Dietz 11 off the bench.

South Dakota State (12-4, 2-0) plays at Denver on Thursday at 8 p.m. and at Oral Roberts on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Irwin

Per SDSU Sports Information, the Wahpeton native is the only North Dakotan on the Jackrabbit women’s basketball team in its 52-year history.

 “It was fun, it was fun,” Irwin said of playing NDSU. “But in the grand scheme of things, it was just another game. When you look at it, to get a conference championship, you take it game-by-game, so that’s kind of how I tried to look at it, too.”

Irwin, who was honored as North Dakota Miss Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year, scored nine points in the Jackrabbits’ 66-52 home win over North Dakota on Nov. 15.

“Tylee is getting better and better,” Johnston noted of Irwin, who is putting up 5.8 points per game in 14 contests. “Offensively, she’s going to be just a really good player. And she continues to rebound and defend in a way that we need her to.”

Strong finishes

SDSU was coming off an 89-64 defeat of Omaha on Wednesday in Brookings, a game in which the Jackrabbits trailed 40-38 at halftime. They outscored the Mavericks 51-24 in the second half, including 30-14 in the third quarter.

“I think we’ve had a tendency to play as well as we ‘have to’ to start games, if that makes sense,” Johnston said. “Trying to get a flow going, get comfortable with what they’re doing offensively; I don’t know. I’m not saying that is the reason, but it sure looks like it when you watch the team play.

“Our team is just really pretty even keel. Even when we gave some things up early, there wasn’t a sense of rush or even urgency. They just kind of stay true to what we’ve talked about; just a really poised team, so they don’t get too down about that.

“But they do respond, too; they realize there are things they can do better. They all had really good thoughts at halftime, good comments, and I think they really put those things to work in the second half.”

Notes

SDSU did not allow a second-chance point and forced 15 turnovers while committing just eight. … Miller now has 1,387 career points, Thompson 1,095 and Guebert 1,090. … The Jackrabbits are 163-31 in Summit League games since joining the conference in 2007-08. That includes a 141-29 mark in regular-season contests and a 79-7 record at home.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 83, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 63

North Dakota State (7-9, 0-2 Summit)

Macey Kvilvang 1-3 0-0 2, Rylee Nudell 2-2 0-0 5, Taylor Thunstedt 1-4 1-2 3, Sarah Jacobson 5-11 2-2 16, Marina Fernandez 1-6 0-0 2, Autumn Ogden 1-1 0-0 2, Michelle Gaislerova 5-8 2-2 14, Tyrah Sepncer 0-0 2-2 2, Reilly Jacobson 3-7 0-0 6, Emily Dietz 5-8 1-2 11, Danneka Voegeli 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 8-10 63.

South Dakota State (12-4, 2-0 Summit)

Myah Selland 2-5 0-1 4, Ellie Thompson 2-6 2-3 6, Alexis Alexander 2-5 0-0 5, Madison Guebert 6-11 3-3 18, Macy Miller 5-11 2-2 14, Chynna Stevens 1-2 0-0 3, Rylie Cascio Jensen 2-6 0-0 5, Tylee Irwin 5-8 0-0 13, Tagyn Larson 6-9 0-2 13, Sydney Palmer 1-7 0-0 2, Sydney Tracy 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Bultsma 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-70 7-11 83.

NDSU 16  18  10  19  –  63

SDSU 19  18  25  21  –  83

3-point goals – NDSU 7-16 (S. Jacobson 4-7, Gaislerova 2-3, Nudell 1-1, Fernandez 0-2, Thunstedt 0-3), SDSU 12-36 (Irwin 3-6, Guebert 3-7, Miller 2-6, Stevens 1-2, Larson 1-2, Alexander 1-4, Cascio Jensen 1-4, Selland 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Palmer 0-3). Rebounds – NDSU 30 (R. Jacobson 6), SDSU 37 (Thompson 8). Assists – NDSU 13 (Fernandez 5), SDSU 19 (Guebert 4). Steals – NDSU 4 (Thunstedt, Fernandez, Ogden, Gaiserlova 1), SDSU 9 (Miller 3). Blocks – NDSU 2 (Fernandez, R. Jacobson 1), SDSU 3 (Thompson 2). Turnovers – NDSU 15, SDSU 8. Total fouls – NDSU 12, SDSU 12. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. A – 1,989.