BROOKINGS – Trailing 40-38 at halftime on Wednesday night at Frost Arena, a long-time South Dakota State fan predicted that the Jackrabbits would hold Omaha to less than 30 points in the second half.

The former Huron Scalper student-athlete called it as SDSU limited the Mavericks to only 24 points in the second half en route to an 89-64 Summit League win.

Omaha stroked it in the first half – knocking down 15-of-27 shots (56 percent), including 7-of-11 (64 percent) from beyond the arc – on the way to the two-point halftime lead.

But SDSU tied the game at 40-40, just seconds into the third quarter on a layup by Madison Guebert before Myah Selland knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Jacks a 43-40 lead with 9:10 to play.

SDSU needed the majority of the third quarter to build a double-digit edge – going up by 12 points on Guebert’s old-fashioned three-point play with 1:28 left in the frame. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Selland and Rylie Cascio Jensen pushed the Jackrabbits’ advantage to 14 – 68-54 – through three.

Guebert knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game 2 1/2 minutes into the final period to push the Rabbits’ lead to 20 at 76-56 and Omaha didn’t get any closer than 21 points the rest of the way. SDSU’s largest margin was 27 points following a pair of Tylee Irwin free throws with 62 seconds left.

“Good second half for us – I thought defensively was where we were much better,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston. “Forty points in the first half, 24 in the second – we were just much better defensively – forced some turnovers; forced some missed shots and turned those into some good scoring opportunities.”

Guebert led the way with 25 points and five sassists as Selland finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Ellie Thompson chipped in with 11 points while Tagyn Larson and Cascio Jensen contributed nine markers apiece.

Amber Vidal dropped 22 points for the Mavericks, who dropped to 8-6 on the season and 0-2 in Summit League play.

Notes (From SDSU Sports Information): South Dakota State won its seventh consecutive Summit League opener and extended its home win streak against league members to 15… In six career games against Omaha, Guebert has scored 100 points, including three games scoring 20-or-more points… Macy Miller tallied six points, moving past Kerri Young (2013-16) and Laurie Kruse (1987-90) for 14th on the all-time scoring list. She now has 1,373 points… Ellie Thompson moved closer to 33rd on the all-time scoring chart, recording 11 points. She now has 1,089 points. Guebert 25 points gives her 1,072 career points. She is now 35th in career scoring.

On Saturday, the Jackrabbits play host to North Dakota State. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 89, OMAHA 64

Omaha 64 (8-6, 0-2 SL)

Amber Vidal 9-19 2-2 22, Courtney Vaccher 6-11 1-3 13, Jess Walter 3-4 1-1 8, Claire Killian 2-7 1-2 6, Ellie Brecht 1-3 0-0 3, Jay Bridgeman 4-5 0-1 10, Remekia Wallace 1-1 0-0 2, Kalen Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Sara Echelberry 0-4 0-0 0, Alicia Mountain 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Petersen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 5-9 64.

South Dakota State 89 (11-4, 1-0 SL)

Madison Guebert 7-9 7-7 25, Myah Selland 5-8 1-2 13, Ellie Thompson 4-8 3-3 11, Macy Miller 3-8 0-0 6, Alexis Alexander 1-3 0-0 3, Tagyn Larson 2-7 5-5 9, Rylie Cascio Jensen 3-6 0-0 9, Sydney Palmer 2-2 0-0 6, Tylee Irwin 1-5 2-2 5, Megan Bultsma 1-2 0-0 2, Chynna Stevens 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Tracy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 18-19 89.

UNO 14  26  14  10  –  64

SDSU 21  17  30  21  –  89

3-point goals – UNO 7-15 (Vidal 2-4, Walter 1-2, Killian 1-2, Brecht 1-2, Bridgeman 2-2, Phillips 0-1, Echelberry 0-2); SDSU 13-25 (Guebert 4-4, Selland 2-4, Thompson 0-1, Miller 0-2, Alexander 1-2, Larson 0-3, Cascio Jensen 3-4, Palmer 2-2, Irwin 1-3). Rebounds – UNO 29 (Vaccher 8); SDSU 34 (Selland 5, Palmer 5). Assists – UNO 12 (Vidal 3, Walter 3); SDSU 18 (Guebert 5). Steals – UNO 6 (Bridgeman 2); SDSU 7 (Alexander 4). Blocks – UNO 4 (Vaccher 2); SDSU 4 (Larson 2, Bultsma 2). Turnovers – UNO 17; SDSU 12. Total fouls – UNO 17; SDSU 16. Fouled out – None. A – 1,523.