JACKRABBITS FALL IN QUARTERFINALS

Saturday, March 6

Sioux Falls, S.D.

11:45 a.m.

South Dakota State University

21-3,14-0Summit League

Omaha

6-12,4-8Summit League

Omaha

South Dakota St.

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/6/2021 2:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Top-seeded South Dakota State women's basketball fell to No. 8 seed Omaha 52-40 in The Summit League Tournament quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at the Sanford Pentagon.

The Jackrabbits saw their 18-game win streak end and suffered their first loss against a conference opponent this season. State shot 39.1 percent from the field, made just two 3-pointers and was outscored 26-12 in the paint. Despite the offensive struggles, SDSU outrebounded Omaha 42-35.

Individually, Tylee Irwin and Paiton Burckhard each scored 10 points and combined for 15 rebounds. Burckhard also added two assists and two steals. Madysen Vlastuin hit the only Jackrabbit 3-pointers of the game, totalling for six points along with four rebounds. Lindsey Theuninck finished with four points and six rebounds. Haley Greer scored five points, recorded three rebounds and two assists. Tori Nelson grabbed four rebounds.

Two Burckhard 3-pointers opened the scoring for the Jacks, giving State a 6-2 lead at the 7:45 mark in the first. Six unanswered points by the Mavericks gave Omaha its first lead of the game at 11-8 with 1:49 remaining in the quarter. Irwin's layup to beat the first quarter buzzer put the Jacks up 11-10.

Omaha made its first three field goals of the second half to take a 16-13 lead. Consecutive 3-pointers by Irwin and Greer gave the Jacks a 19-16 advantage, forcing a Maverick timeout at 7:37. After a Vlastuin 3-pointer, Omaha outscored SDSU 9-2 in the final 3:39 to take a 29-24 lead at halftime.

The Mavericks stretched their lead to double figures for the first time in the game with a 3-pointer and two free throws. Theisen's layup cut the SDSU deficit to 34-26, but the Jacks would go without a field goal for the next four minutes. Vlastuin broke the drought, hitting a 3-pointer at the 3:21 mark to make it 40-31 and two Theuninck free throws brought the Jacks within 40-33 at the end of the third.

The shooting struggles continued for the Jacks in the fourth as Irwin's jumper with 7:18 to play was the only points scored by the Jacks in the quarter until Theuninck's layup at the 2:34 mark cut Omaha's lead to 47-37. Burckhard's jumper made it a nine point game (48-39) with just over two minutes to play, but four Omaha free throws in the final 1:11 iced the game.

"I think the Mavericks are a really good team. I've said that throughout the year. They just have not been healthy," head coach Aaron Johnston said. "They haven't had that lineup together I'm sure as much as they would hope. When you see that lineup out there, that's a pretty good team and their size, I thought, really caused us a lot of problems in and around the basket. We probably didn't make enough jumpshots to really get ourselves going and then we started pressing a little bit and created some turnovers that aren't necessarily characteristic either, so I just thought they played really well. We didn't respond to what they were doing in a way that was effective, but a good win for them and it's something we'll have to move forward from because it's a disappointing loss for us."

Game Notes

South Dakota State dropped to 47-31 in the all-time series
This is SDSU's first loss in the Summit League Tournament quarterfinals, however the top-seeded Jackrabbits fell to No. 4 South Dakota in the first round (semifinals) of the 2014 tournament.

Up Next
South Dakota State will learn its postseason hopes Monday, March 15. The Jackrabbits have 13 postseason appearances, including nine NCAA Tournament berths.

-GoJacks.com-