Jackrabbits fall in Junkanoo Jam finale

Friday, November 27

Grand Bahama Island

8 p.m. ET

South Dakota State University

Virginia

Jackrabbit women open exhibition play with win

11/28/2009 1:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

FREEPORT, Bahamas — Paulisha Kellum scored a game-high 25 points to lead nationally ranked Virginia to a 78-66 victory over South Dakota State Friday night in the Reef Division championship at the Junkanoo Jam.

The Cavaliers, ranked 15^th in the Associated Press poll and 18^th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, improved to 5-1. SDSU dropped to 2-4.

Virginia raced out to an 11-3 lead in the first four minutes of the game, but the Jackrabbits countered with 13-2 run of their own to claim a 16-13 advantage with 12 minutes, 46 seconds to play. Freshman Steph Paluch hit a pair of three-pointers in the run and Kristin Rotert added another trifecta.

The Jackrabbits built the lead to eight, 28-20, after Paluch hit her third three-pointer in as many attempts at the 6:22 mark.

Virginia, however, controlled the rest of the half, outscoring the Jackrabbits 19-6 down the stretch, including the final five points of the stanza, to take a 39-34 halftime lead.

The Cavaliers scored the first six points of the second half to build a double-digit lead for the first time in the game. SDSU could get no closer than six points the rest of the way, cutting the deficit to 66-60 on a Macie Michelson three-pointer with 4:09 to play.

Kellum finished the game 7-of-10 from the field and 10-of-12 at the line en route to her career-high 25 points. Chelsea Shine added 11 points, while Ariana Moorer chipped in with 10 points off the bench. All-America candidate Monica Wright was limited to eight points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field, but shared game-high rebounding honors with teammate Telia McCall with nine boards.

The Cavaliers shot 40 percent from the field, 26-of-65, including 2-of-8 from three-point range. Virginia made 24-of-33 free throw attempts, 72.7 percent.

SDSU also placed three players in double figures as Boever, Rotert and Paluch each tallied 14 points. The Jackrabbits made 19-of-44 field goal attempts, 43.2 percent, but were plagued by 26 turnovers, compared to only nine by Virginia. SDSU was 8-of-18 from three-point range and 20-for-29 at the line, 69 percent.

Boever and Jill Young each posted seven rebounds to pace the Jackrabbits' 37-35 rebounding advantage.

The Jackrabbits return to action next Saturday (Dec. 5), playing their Summit League opener at Western Illinois.

NOTES: The series is tied at one game apiece, with both meetings coming in the Junkanoo Jam … SDSU fell to 1-2 against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents … Boever increase her career scoring total to 982 … with two three-pointers, Rotert took over sole possession of 10^th place on the Jackrabbit career three-point chart with 132, surpassing the 130 by Brooke Dickmeyer from 2002-05 … Paluch's 14 points were a career high as she led a 25-18 advantage in bench scoring … Ketty Cornemann contributed three steals, giving her eight in the two tournament games