Jackrabbits rally past UALR

Friday, December 16

Frost Arena

7:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Arkansas-Little Rock

12/16/2011 11:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

After trailing most of the night, the South Dakota State University women's basketball team ended the game with a 20-6 run to defeat Arkansas-Little Rock, 64-55, Friday night at Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits, who defeated UALR for the second time in 10 days, improved to 7-4 overall. UALR dropped its fourth consecutive game, falling to 3-8 overall.

Trailing 49-44 after consecutive three-pointers by the Trojans' Janette Merriex and Taylor Gault, SDSU turned the tide after switching to a trapping zone defense. Over the final 11 minutes, UALR committed nine turnovers and went 2-of-10 from the field.

SDSU, meanwhile, began to find its stride offensively. Jill Young started the comeback with a three-pointer and gave the Jackrabbits a 52-51 lead with two free throws with 5 minutes and 2 seconds left in the game. Moments later, Young scored on a layup that beat the shot clock and Steph Paluch added a putback and layup to push the SDSU advantage to 60-53 with under two minutes to play.

The Jackrabbits trailed 10 points, 18-10, in the first eight minutes of the game, before trimming the margin to a basket, 21-19, following a three-pointer by Rachel Walters. However, UALR would score the next 10 points over a four-minute span to take its largest lead of the night, 31-19, with 2:50 to play in the opening half. Ashley Eide's traditional three-point play with 2.2 seconds remaining brought the Jackrabbits to within 32-28 entering halftime.

Eide finished the game with 14 points, while Young tallied a team-high 17. The Jackrabbits ended the night 21-of-56 from the field, 37.5 percent, including 5-of-15 from three-point range. SDSU made its final nine free throws of the evening to finish 17-of-27, 63 percent.

Gault scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the first half to lead UALR. Merriex added 14 points, while Marian Kursh tallied 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

UALR shot 18-of-51 from the field, 35.3 percent, including 4-of-13 from behind the arc. The Trojans were 15-of-21 at the free throw line, 71.4 percent.

The Jackrabbits won the battle of the boards, 41-36, with four different players pulling down five rebounds.

SDSU continues non-conference play Monday (Dec. 19) at Marquette. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wis.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series, 2-0 ... SDSU improved to 7-6 against Sun Belt Conference opponents ... the Jackrabbits recorded the 799^th victory in the history of the program; overall SDSU has a 799-362 record (.688 winning percentage) since modern era of women's basketball began during the 1966-67 season ... Young was 4-of-4 at the line to improve to 29-of-31 (93.5 percent) on the season ... with three three-pointers, Young upped her career three-point total to 245, moving her to within five of the Jackrabbit career record held by Brenda Davis (250 three-pointers from 2001-04) and Kristin Rotert (250 from 2008-11) ... the Jackrabbits committed 15 turnovers, compared to 17 by UALR ... SDSU is 2-3 this season when trailing at the half ... the Jackrabbits improved to 7-2 when out-rebounding the opposition ... SDSU is 7-0 when scoring 60 or more points ... attendance was 1,324