Boever beats the buzzer - barely - as Jacks win - South Dakota State University Athletics

Sunday, January 14

Minneapolis, Minn.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Minnesota

Boever beats the buzzer - barely - as Jacks win

1/1/1970 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

MINNEAPOLIS – Maria Boever scored on a layup as time expired to lift South Dakota State to a 59-58 victory over Minnesota in women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 7,568 at Williams Arena.

The Jackrabbits improved to 12-5 overall, while Minnesota dropped to 11-7 on the season.

SDSU trailed by seven points with 6 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the game and held Minnesota without a field goal for the final 5:05. Trailing 55-48, Jennifer Warkenthien made 1-of-2 free throws, and after SDSU grabbed the rebound, Andrea Verdegan sank her fifth three-pointer of the game to pull the Jackrabbits to within three.

Still playing catchup, SDSU made it a one-point game at the 2:40 mark on a three-pointer by Warkenthien and later took the lead at 57-56 on a basket in the lane by Megan Vogel with 1:35 remaining.

Minnesota missed a couple scoring opportunities but forced a pair of Jackrabbit turnovers to regain possession. With 3.5 seconds left, Ashley Ellis-Milan forced Vogel’s fifth foul and made both free throws to put the Golden Gophers up 58-57. Ellis-Milan had made only four of her previous 10 free-throw attempts in the game.

The Jackrabbits’ long inbound pass was knocked out of bounds at half court, and after a timeout, Warkenthien found Verdegan on the left baseline. The junior guard moved past a Minnesota defender and found Boever open on the block. The play was reviewed by the officials for about three minutes before the officials ruled that the shot left Boever’s hand before the red light on the basket came on, giving SDSU the one-point victory.

Neither team held more than a three-point lead through the first 12 minutes of the game, the Jackrabbits went on a 10-2 run to grab a nine-point lead at 27-18. Andrea Verdegan started the run with her third three-pointer of the half three other Jackrabbits scored baskets.

Minnesota ended the half on a 6-0 run in the final 2:30 of the half as Leslie Knight scored all six Golden Gopher points, including a basket with two seconds left, to make the score 32-29 at the break.

Kelly Roysland fueled Minnesota’s second-half run with 13 of her game-high 17 points in the final 20 minutes. Ellis-Milan scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as Minnesota won the battle of the boards by a 41-28 count.

Verdegan led SDSU with 15 points, making all five of her three-point attempts, and added six assists. Warkenthien tallied 13 points, with Courtney Grimsrud adding 10 points. Boever finished the game with seven points.

SDSU finished the game 23-of-52 from the field, 44.2 percent. The Jackrabbits made half of their three-point and free-throw attempts, going 10-of-20 from behind the arc and 4-of-8 at the line.

Minnesota shot 41 percent from the field, 22-of-54, including 3-of-11 from three-point range, 27 percent. At the line, the Golden Gophers were 11-of-19, 58 percent.

The Jackrabbits return to action Monday night, hosting Minnesota-Duluth. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.

SDSU Notes: SDSU now leads the all-time series against Minnesota, 3-1, but the two teams had not met since the 1977-78 season? ? SDSU is now 2-1 against Big Ten teams since moving to the Division I ranks at the start of the 2004-05 season ? the Jackrabbits now have a 36-21 record against Division I opponents since 2004-05, defeating 27 different D-I teams representing 15 conferences and fellow independents ? Morgan Meier scored her first basket of the season, banking in a three-pointer from the top of the key in the first half ? the Jackrabbits are 11-0 this season when leading at the half? ? Verdegan tied a season high with six assists