CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – A second half surge led Northern Iowa to a comeback win over the South Dakota State women’s basketball team Saturday. The Panthers outscored the Jackrabbits 31-11 the final 16 minutes of the game and won 59-50.
The first quarter was even between the two teams with the Panthers having a 13-11 lead after one. UNI led 17-16 with 8:47 left in the first half when SDSU went on a 10-2 run to go up 26-19 with 6:25 left. SDSU then took a 30-24 lead into the locker room.
SDSU began the second half on a 9-4 run to go up 39-28. That’s when the Jackrabbit offense went stagnant. The Panthers went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to one and trailed 41-38 heading into the final quarter.
SDSU led 47-43 with 6:55 left in the game. The Jackrabbits were then outscored 16-3 the rest of the way and the Panthers came away with the win.
The Jacks shot 22.2% from the field in the second half. They were 2-11 from the field in the fourth quarter.
SDSU shot 36% from the field for the game and were 5-18 from three. The Jacks were 9-14 at the free throw line.
Tori Nelson led the Jacks with 13 points and six rebounds. Haley Greer had 19 points and Paige Meyer had seven. Paiton Burckhard had eight points and five rebounds.
UNI shot 40.8% from the field and was 3-19 from three. The Panthers were 16-26 from the free throw line.
The Panthers were led by Kam Finley who had 13 points and three steals. Karli Rucker had 12 points and Emerson Green had 11. Cynthia Wolf had 10 points and eight rebounds.
UNI slightly won the rebound battle 33-32. SDSU had 18 turnovers and the Panthers had 14 points off of them.
SDSU is now 3-5 and hosts Missouri State tonight at 7 p.m.
NORTHERN IOWA 59, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 50
South Dakota State (3-5)
Tori Nelson 6-12 0-0 13, Haley Greer 4-4 0-0 10, Paiton Burckhard 3-9 2-4 8, Paige Meyer 2-10 2-2 7, Tylee Irwin 1-6 3-4 5, Lindsey Theuninck 1-3 0-0 3, Mesa Byom 1-3 0-0 2, Kallie Theisen 0-1 2-4 2, Haleigh Timmer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 9-14 50.
Northern Iowa (5-2)
Kam Finley 5-9 1-2 13, Karli Rucker 4-12 4-6 12, Emerson Green 4-6 3-5 11, Cynthia Wolf 3-7 4-6 10, Bre Gunnels 2-5 2-2 6, Maya McDermott 1-4 1-4 4, Grace Boffeli 1-3 1-1 3, Sara McCullough 0-1 0-0 0, Kayba Laube 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 16-26 59.
SDSU 11 19 11 9 – 50
UNI 13 11 14 21 – 59
3-point field goals – SDSU 5-18 (Greer 2-2, Nelson 1-3, Theuninck 1-3, Meyer 1-4, Byom 0-1, Burckhard 0-2, Irwin 0-3), UNI 3-19 (Finley 2-5, McDermott 1-4, McCullough 0-1, Gunnels 0-1, Rucker 0-2, Laube 0-2, Wolf 0-3). Rebounds – SDSU 32 (Irwin, Theisen 7), UNI 33 (Wolf 8). Assists – SDSU 18 (Theuninck 3), UNI 8 (Wolf 3). Steals – SDSU 4 (Burckhard, Meyer, Theisen, Greer), UNI 9 (Finley 3). Blocks – SDSU 5 (Nelson, Theisen 2), UNI 6 (Gunnels 4). Turnovers – SDSU 18, UNI 15. Total fouls – SDSU 22, UNI 13. Fouled out – Theuninck. Technical fouls – none. A – 636.
