BROOKINGS – South Dakota State women's basketball got back in the win column Wednesday night with a 71-56 victory over Chattanooga at Frost Arena.
SDSU jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter, but the Mocs battled back and cut the lead to 16-15 at the end of the quarter. It was a back-and-forth second quarter with the Jacks taking a four point lead into the break after Tagyn Larson made a layup as the buzzer sounded.
The Jacks used back-to-back three’s from Tylee Irwin and Larson to take a 36-29 lead. SDSU’s lead then used a 13-2 run to close out the third quarter and lead 53-38. The Jacks wouldn’t look back as they came away with the victory to improve to 7-4 on the season.
“We played hard for 40 minutes,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said. “I thought we had urgency at times in the second half, especially that third quarter and early in the fourth. There’s just a difference between playing hard and urgency. First half, I don’t think we had a lot of urgency. I thought we played hard and we were in the right spots, but we weren’t making the plays offensively or defensively. … Third and fourth we had urgency and it was harder for them to get by us and harder for them to get to the rim and score. It was good to see our team respond when they needed to.”
Larson led the Jacks with 15 points and six rebounds. A performance that SDSU really needed as forward Myah Selland is out indefinitely with a foot injury. Lindsey Theuninck got the first start of her career Wednesday night and capitalized with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
“[Theuninck] played really well. She was 5-10 from the field, hit a couple three’s. Had a couple transition plays. This will boost her confidence. We need her to make some of those plays. She’s explosive, she can get to the basket, she makes shots. It’s good to see her doing that and going in the right direction,” Johnston said.
Paiton Burckhard had 11 points and five rebounds. Sydney Stapleton had 10 points and Tylee Irwin had nine. The Jacks shot 48.3% from the field and were 8-19 from three. They outrebounded the Mocs 35-30.
Up next, SDSU will host Central Michigan at 2 p.m. on Saturday. They will then take on Marquette at home at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17th before facing Green Bay on the road on Dec. 21st. Johnston said the next three games will be a good test for his team.
“[Central Michigan] is good. They’re really talented. I know that they are right around .500, but that is a scheduling issue and not so much a talent and ability issue. All three of these games we have coming up now before Christmas are winnable, but they’re also loseable. If we don’t play well, if we don’t play with urgency, we’ll have a hard time,” Johnston said.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 71, CHATTANOOGA 56
Chattanooga (1-10)
Eboni Williams 5-10 0-0 11, Lakelyn Bouldin 3-12 2-3 10, Bria Dial 3-4 0-0 9, Abbey Cornelius 3-5 1-2 7, Dena Jarrells 2-5 0-0 6, Nakeia Burks 2-3 0-0 4, Morgan Hill 1-5 0-0 3, Ruona 1-4 1-2 3, Pare Pene 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 21-51 4-7 56.
South Dakota State (7-4)
Tagyn Larson 6-7 0-0 15, Lindsey Theuninck 5-10 1-1 13, Paiton Burckhard 5-9 1-4 11, Sydney Stapleton 4-8 0-2 10, Tylee Irwin 3-6 2-2 9, Kallie Theisen 3-7 0-0 6, Rylie Cascio Jensen 2-6 1-2 5, Megan Bultsma 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 29-60 5-11 71.
Halftime – 31-27 SDSU. 3-point field goals – CHAT 10-24 (Dial 3-4, Jarrells 2-4, Pene 1-2, Bouldin 2-6, Hill 1-4, Williams 1-4), SDSU 8-19 (Larson 3-3, Irwin 1-2, Stapleton 2-5, Theuninck 2-6, Theisen 0-1). Rebounds – CHAT 30 (Williams 8), SDSU 35 (Larson 6). Assists – CHAT 13 (Jarrells, Bouldin 3), SDSU 23 (Larson 8). Steals – CHAT 2 (Burcks, Williams), SDSU 5 (Cascio Jensen, Stapleton 2). Blocks – CHAT 3 (Williams 2), SDSU 1 (Cascio Jensen). Turnovers – CHAT 13, SDSU 8. Total fouls – CHAT 16, SDSU 11. Technical fouls – none. A – 1,326.
