Jackrabbits roll on Senior Day

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BROOKINGS – Alexis Alexander (16) and Ellie Thompson (14) led six Jackrabbits in double figures as every player in uniform found the scoring column during a 96-72 Summit League defeat of Oral Roberts on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Frost Arena.

“It was a good Senior Day,” said SDSU coach Aaron Johnston. “It’s just really fitting to see both Ellie and Lexi lead us, I thought. They’ve been a part of a lot of wins here in their career; Tiffaney (Flaata), too. It’s great to see Ellie and Lexi have big games, and really send their regular-season Frost career on a high note.”

Alexander went 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range. She added nine rebounds and an assist.

“It’s just unreal; I can’t believe it’s our last game; it was exciting having all those fans there; and it was just fun,” she said.

Thompson ended up 5-of-8 from the floor, also contributing five boards, three assists and a block.

“It’s hard to comprehend that it’s our last game at Frost,” she said. “Even as we were walking off the court, I still can’t comprehend the fact that we’re never going to step out on that court again.”

Frost is an arena in which the Jackrabbits have been nearly unbeatable in Summit League play. SDSU is 83-8 in home league games, including a 29-2 mark during the careers of Alexander, Thompson and Flaata.

Madison Guebert added 13 points, Macy Miller 12, and Tagyn Larson and Rylie Cascio Jensen 10 apiece.

Myah Selland, who has 17 starts this season, returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games. The true freshman had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting while adding four rebounds and three assists in 11 minutes of action.

A sharp first quarter saw the Jackrabbits grab a 23-10 advantage. Miller helped SDSU overcome a slow start to the second with nine points as the home team was ahead 43-32 at halftime. The margin was 67-38 through three. The Jackrabbit lead peaked at 25 points.

SDSU is outscoring its opponents by an average margin of 96.8-59.6 during the five-game winning streak.

For the Golden Eagles (15-10, 6-5), Faith Ihim and KeniJo Lippe both set career highs with 31 and 22 points, respectively.

South Dakota State (21-5, 10-1) closes out the regular season with three games on the road – third-place Western Illinois (18-7, 8-3) on Saturday, first-place South Dakota (21-5, 11-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and IPFW on Saturday, Jan. 24.

Notes: Tiffaney Flaata, who is not playing this season due to an injury, was also honored on Senior Day. … Miller jumped two spots to 14th on the Summit League career scoring list with 1,584 points, passing Youngstown State’s Carolina McCombs (1994-98) and Western Illinois’ Emily Clemens (2014-present), who are at 1,577. The Leathernecks were idle Saturday.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 96, ORAL ROBERTS 72

Oral Roberts (15-10, 6-5 Summit)

Faith Ihim 13-29 5-5 31, Montserrat Brotons 3-5 0-0 6, Maya Mayberry 2-10 0-0 4, Sarah Garvie 2-5 0-0 6, KeniJo Lippe 7-14 5-5 22, Katie Kirkhart 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Skalnik 1-2 0-0 3, Regan Schumacher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-66 10-10 72.

South Dakota State (21-5, 10-1 Summit)

Tagyn Larson 5-11 0-0 10, Ellie Thompson 5-8 4-5 14, Alexis Alexander 6-8 0-0 16, Madison Guebert 3-6 5-6 13, Macy Miller 5-13 1-1 12, Rylie Cascio Jensen 4-5 0-0 10, Tylee Irwin 0-2 3-4 3, Sydney Palmer 2-5 0-0 5, Sydney Tracy 1-1 0-0 2, Myah Selland 3-4 1-2 7, Megan Bultsma 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 36-65 14-18 96.

ORU 10  22  16  24  –  72

SDSU 23  20  24  29  –  96

3-point goals – ORU 6-13 (Lipp 3-6, Garvie 2-4, Skalnik 1-1, Mayberry 0-2), SDSU 10-19 (Alexander 4-5, Cascio Jensen 2-3, Guebert 2-4, Palmer 1-2, Miller 1-3, Larson 0-1, Irwin 0-1). Rebounds – ORU 31 (Lippe 9), SDSU 38 (Alexander 9). Assists – ORU 9 (Mayberry 5), SDSU 24 (Irwin 5). Steals – ORU 1 (Ihim 1), SDSU 3 (Thompson, Irwin, Palmer 1). Blocks – ORU 1 (Ihim 1), SDSU 4 (Thompsn 2). Turnovers – ORU 9, SDSU 6. Total fouls – ORU 14, SDSU 10. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. A – 2,403.

Left photo: South Dakota State’s Alexis Alexander drops in a short jumper in the lane to open the scoring during the Jackrabbits’ 96-72 Summit League win over Oral Roberts on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Frost Arena.

Right photo: Fellow senior Ellie Thompson scores over Oral Roberts’ Regan Schumacher in the second quarter. Alexander finished with 16 points and Thompson added 14.