SDSU comeback falls short in KC

Monday, January 11

Kansas City, Mo.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

UMKC

1/11/2010 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The roller-coaster ride that has been the South Dakota State University women's basketball team's season continued Monday night as the Jackrabbits dropped a 67-64 decision at UMKC.

The Jackrabbits fell to 8-8 overall and 4-2 in The Summit League. UMKC improved to 7-9 overall and 4-1 in league play.

For the second Monday night in a row, the Jackrabbits were never able to gain a lead. After SDSU tied the game at 13-all on a Maria Boever basket with 12 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the front half, UMKC went on a quick 7-0 run to take the lead for good.

The Jackrabbits got back to within a basket at 20-18, but the final nine minutes of the half belonged to UMKC. The Kangaroos put together a 14-6 run to close the half and take a 38-27 lead at halftime.

The Kangaroos scored the first four points of the second half to build their largest lead of the night at 15 points, 42-27, only to see SDSU come charging back.

Ketty Cornemann, who did not score in the first half, led the Jackrabbits' second-half charge. The senior from Yankton hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull SDSU to within 44-37 at the 16:45 mark. Two Cornemann free throws with 12:07 remaining brought the Jackrabbits to within three, 47-44, and a basket by Jennie Sunnarborg on the next SDSU possession put the run at 19-5 and cut the deficit to one.

UMKC was able to regain the momentum, countering with a 6-0 spurt and holding the Jackrabbits scoreless for nearly five minutes. Chazny Morris, who scored a game-high 24 points, put the game out of reach with a basket and free throw that gave UMKC a 63-53 lead inside of four minutes to play.

The Jackrabbits put together one last run, pulling to within 63-60 on a Jill Young three-pointer with 49 seconds remaining. Sam Sikkink sealed the Kangaroo victory by making all four of her free throw attempts in the closing seconds.

Jade Tinner, who was 8-of-10 from the field for 17 points, and Simone Bridges with 10 also reached double figures for the Kangaroos.

Field goal statistics were nearly identical: UMKC finished the game 23-of-51, 45.1 percent, while SDSU was 22-of-53, 41.5 percent. The Jackrabbits made 6-of-19 three-point tries, compared to 3-of-11 for UMKC. At the line, SDSU made 14-of-17 attempts for 82.4 percent, with the Kangaroos making 18-fo-28 tries for 64.3 percent.

Boever led four Jackrabbit players in double figures with 15. Cornemann finished the night with 13, while Kristin Rotert and Sunnarborg each tallied 11. Boever also collected a game-high seven rebounds to pace the Jackrabbits' 36-27 rebounding advantage.

Turnovers proved to be a downfall for SDSU, which committed 18 miscues, compared to only nine by UMKC.

The Jackrabbits close out their three-game road swing Saturday night at North Dakota State. Tipoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo. The game is scheduled to be televised on Sioux Falls-based KSFY-TV.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series 5-1 ... the Jackrabbits had their 10-game Summit League road winning streak snapped ... SDSU is 1-6 this season when trailing at the half ... senior Alison Anderson played in her 100^th career game ... Cornemann is the only SDSU player to score in double figures in all five Summit League games this season ... Sunnarborg scored all 11 of the Jackrabbits' points off the bench ... UMKC held a 14-11 advantage in bench points ... Macie Michelson tied a career high with six rebounds ... Rotert made the 150^th three-pointer of her career, while Cornemann upped her career total to 99 ... attendance was listed at 263