SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State took control in the second half for a 65-50 victory over Oral Roberts in a Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal Sunday afternoon at the PREMIER Center.
The score was tied at 27-all at halftime, and the Golden Eagles twice led by as many as three points early in the third quarter.
But a 13-1 run swung momentum in favor of the third-seeded Jackrabbits.
“It was a great win,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston. “It was a very challenging win. Oral Roberts played very well, I thought, on offense and defense. Their pressure caused us a lot of problems. We turned it over a little more than we have in the past and I think that was 100 percent because of their defense. They really got us uncomfortable at times and rattled at times.
“That’s a really good 6 seed. Boy oh boy, it’s not often in our league you have someone capable of beating Oklahoma on the road and then ending up as the 6 seed. So they’re very talented and I’m really pleased with the way we played today; really pleased with the fact we got a win against a good team.”
Kerri Young scored 16 points and fellow senior Clarissa Ober posted a double-double of 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, as the seniors finished a combined 12-of-14 from the field.
Madison Guebert also finished with 16 points and Ellie Thompson added 11.
What changed after the break?
“Just focusing on getting open in our half-court offense and establishing a presence in the half-court offense – being more aggressive offensively, getting more rebounds and just getting a better pace moving forward in the second half,” Young noted.
Trailing 34-31, Thompson got the run going with a putback. ORU’s Jordan Gilbert made a free throw on the other end, but Thompson quickly answered with a 3-pointer to put the Jackrabbits on top for good – 36-35 – at the 6:15 mark of the third.
Guebert added a free throw with 5:53 to go.
Ober hit a jumper, Sydney Tracy made 1-of-2 foul shots, and Guebert tacked on a pair of freebies before scoring in the paint to make it 44-35 with 58 seconds showing on the clock.
“We all just kind of dug in and worked really hard in the third quarter to get our defense going and then we knew our offense would come after that,” Ober said.
Oral Roberts got as close as six points early in the fourth but Young answered with a trey, and the Jackrabbits gradually pulled away from there – the lead peaked at 16, 60-44, with 3:12 remaining.
SDSU shot 52.3 percent (23-of-44), including 60 percent (12-of-20) in the second half.
The Jackrabbits outrebounded the Golden Eagles 39-23 and held a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint. SDSU did, however, commit 18 turnovers.
ORU finished at 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the floor, including 32.1 percent (9-of-28) after the break.
The Golden Eagles (15-15) got 15 points from Faith Ihim and 14 by Maria Martianez.
South Dakota State (22-7) faces second-seeded IUPUI (23-7) in the semifinals today at 2:30 p.m. The Jaguars beat North Dakota State 69-56 on Saturday afternoon.
Notes: SDSU led 17-14 after a quarter. … Guebert now has 86 3-pointers this year, tied for the second-highest total in a single season in school history. … SDSU beat Oral Roberts by a combined 68 points in the two regular-season meetings.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 65, ORAL ROBERTS 50
Oral Roberts (15-15)
Maria Martianez 6-13 2-2 14, Montserrat Brotons 2-4 1-3 5, Kaylan Mayberry 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Skalnik 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Beatty 3-5 0-0 8, Lakota Beatty 2-11 0-0 5, Faith Ihim 7-17 1-2 15, Jordan Gilbert 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 21-57 5-9 50.
South Dakota State (22-7)
Clarissa OBer 5-6 0-0 10, Ellie Thompson 4-7 2-2 11, Alexis Alexander 1-6 2-2 4, Kerri Young 7-8 0-2 16, Madison Guebert 4-12 6-8 16, Ena Viso 0-1 2-2 2, Sydney Palmer 1-2 0-0 3, Sydney Tracy 1-2 1-2 3, Tiffaney Flaata 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 13-18 65.
Oral Roberts 14 13 10 13 – 50
SDSU 17 10 17 21 – 65
3-point goals – ORU 3-14 (A. Beatty 2-3, L. Beatty 1-8, Skalnik 0-1, Ihim 0-1, Gilbert 0-1), SDSU 6-19 (Young 2-3, Guebert 2-7, Thompson 1-2, Palmer 1-2, Ober 0-1, Viso 0-1, Tracy 0-1, Alexander 0-2). Rebounds – ORU 23 (Martianez 6), SDSU 39 (Ober 16). Assists – ORU 12 (Martianez, Mayberry, L. Beatty 3), SDSU 12 (Alexander 4). Steals – ORU 10 (L. Beatty 6), SDSU 2 (Ober 1, Palmer 1). Blocks – ORU 1 (Brotons 1), SDSU 6 (Ober 2, Tracy 2). Turnovers – ORU 10, SDSU 18. Total fouls – ORU 22, SDSU 10. Fouled out – Mayberry, A. Beatty. Technical fouls – None. A – 9,419.
SUNDAY
• Omaha 64, South Dakota 58
Mikaela Shaw totaled 25 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead the fifth-seeded Mavericks past the fourth-seeded Coyotes.
UNO was ahead 17-12 after a quarter but USD went up 30-25 at halftime. The Mavericks led 44-42 through three.
Remy Davenport broke a 56-all tie with a 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining in the game, putting Omaha (16-14) on top for good. Abi Lujan hit two free throws with 23 seconds left and Marissa Preston added a pair of 14 seconds to go to make it 63-56.
Shaw went 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-9 at the line. Davenport knocked down four treys while finishing with 15 points.
South Dakota’s Abigail Fogg had 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. She grabbed 10 rebounds to complete the double-double, while also dishing out five assists and blocking four shots.
Ciara Duffy added 13 points for the Coyotes (22-8).
Saturday
• Western Illinois 82, Denver 39
Seven Leathernecks scored eight or more points, including five in double digits, as top-seeded WIU (24-6) rolled past the Pioneers.
Western Illinois raced out to a 19-2 advantage after 10 minutes. The Leathernecks led 33-17 at halftime and 53-26 through three.
Emily Clemens scored a game-high 17 points while adding nine assists and four steals.
Morgan Blumer added 15 points and Taylor Hanneman 11. Olivia Braun, who grabbed 10 rebounds, and Mallory Boyle contributed 10 points apiece.
Jasmine Patrick and Michelle Farrow both scored eight points. Taylor Higginbotham notched 11 boards.
For Denver (6-24), Jordyn Alt and Jacqlyn Poss each had eight points. Briana Johnson corralled 10 rebounds.
The Pioneers committed 23 turnovers and shot just 25 percent (15-of-60) from the field.
Saturday
• IUPUI 69, North Dakota State 56
The second-seeded Jaguars led 16-12 after a quarter and 38-24 at halftime, and the Bison never got closer than 10 in the second half as IUPUI prevailed.
Danielle Lewis led the Jaguars (23-7) with 23 points. She ended up 7-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from long range, and 7-of-7 at the foul line.
Mikale Rogers added 15 points and nine boards. Jenna Gunn chipped in with nine points and Sydney Hall eight.
For NDSU (6-24), Kennedy Childers had 15 points and Brianna Jones and Reilly Jacobson contributed 10 apiece.
