College Women's Basketball

Jackrabbits take down No. 21 Oregon in final game in Hawaii

By Andrew Holtan

The Brookings Register

Posted 11/27/24

South Dakota State picked up its second ranked win of the season on Tuesday night as the Jackrabbits beat No. 21 Oregon in the final game of the Hawaii North Shore Showcase.

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College Women's Basketball

Jackrabbits take down No. 21 Oregon in final game in Hawaii

Posted

LAIE, Hawaii — South Dakota State picked up its second ranked win of the season on Tuesday night as the Jackrabbits beat No. 21 Oregon in the final game of the Hawaii North Shore Showcase.

SDSU is now 2-1 against ranked opponents this season as the Jacks beat Creighton, who was ranked 21st at the time, and lost to Duke. 

It was a back-and-forth battle for most of the game. The two teams traded buckets in the first quarter and Oregon took a 22-19 lead into the second as the Ducks scored the final five points of the quarter.

The Ducks increased their lead to 22-19 but SDSU then went on a 9-2 run to go up 28-24 with six minutes left in the first half. SDSU then led 35-34 and scored five straight points before Oregon made a lay up to make it 40-36 Jackrabbits heading into halftime. 

SDSU pushed the lead to 47-40 with seven minutes left in the third but Oregon then went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead two. The Jacks then outscored the Ducks 5-2 in the final three minutes of the quarter to make it 56-51 heading into the fourth.

Oregon had a strong start to the fourth and tied the game at 60-60 with 6:14 to play. Each team then traded spurts of four-straight points to make it 64-64 with 2:45 left. 

That’s when SDSU took over. Paige Meyer and Haleigh Timmer hit back-to-back lay ups and a Paige Meyer free throw put the Jacks up 69-64. Timmer then hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 72-66 with 44 seconds left. 

A jumper from Deja Kelly, a turnover from SDSU and a lay up from Amina Muhammad cut the lead to 72-70 with 26 seconds left. Timmer then knocked down one of two at the line to make a 3-point game but a shot from Peyton Scott in the paint was missed and Madison Mathiowetz hit two free throws to put the game on ice.

SDSU shot 48.1% from the field and was 6-of-12 from three. The Jacks had 20 turnovers on the night but they also forced 17. SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said Oregon’s physicality made things tough for the Jacks but he was happy with how his team responded all night.

“It was very physical. There was a lot of contact on a lot of plays and I thought we handled that very well,” Johnston said.

Brooklyn Meyer led the Jacks with 19 points and eight rebounds. Paige Meyer had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Timmer had 13 points and six rebounds. Madysen Vlastuin had 11 points and Mathiowetz had seven points.

Johnston said it was a team effort on Tuesday night but he thought his two stars in Brooklyn and Paige Meyer led the Jacks to the victory.

“[Vlastuin] off the bench really played well, shot it real well. Haleigh Timmer maybe had some looks that didn’t go but still stepped up late when we needed her to. Mathiowetz made big free throws when we needed her to. With Brooklyn and Paige, I really thought those two controlled the game. Brooklyn was difficult. She had two or three people on her but she made it hard for them to stop her, and Paige was nearly impossible for them to stop off of those ball screens,” Johnston said. 

The Jacks held a 30-28 advantage in rebounding. Johnston said that was a crucial factor in the game.

“It was important to outrebound them. We’ve struggled against big teams like that and we did a great job on the glass, and that was collective too. It wasn’t like anybody just got every rebound for us,” Johnston said.

The Ducks shot 49.2% from the field and were 1-of-11 from three. Kelly had 19 points and Muhammad had 10 points and eight rebounds. Ehis Etute had eight points and Elisa Mevius and Phillipina Kyei each had seven points.

SDSU will head to Ball State next. The Cardinals will come into Sunday’s matchup with a record of 5-2 as well. They beat Texas A&M this past Sunday in the Battle 4 Atlantis before falling to Columbia on Monday. Tip off between the Jacks and Cardinals is scheduled for noon.