JACKRABBITS SURVIVE ALABAMA, ADVANCE TO WNIT SEMIFINAL

Sunday, March 27

BROOKINGS, S.D. / FROST ARENA

5 P.M.

South Dakota State University

27-9,17-1Summit League

Alabama

20-14,6-10SEC

Alabama

South Dakota St.

3/27/2022 10:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BROOKINGS - A steal by Tylee Irwin and game-clinching 3-pointer by Lindsey Theuninck with less than a minute on the clock don't even begin to describe the thrill of South Dakota State's 78-73 win over Alabama Sunday, but it's a start.

With a 75-73 lead for the Jackrabbits and 40 seconds to play, Irwin's steal stopped Alabama's potential game-winning possession and resulted in Theuninck's game-sealing triple from the right wing.

LINDSEY LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!!

Q4, 14.5 | SDSU 78, Alabama 73 pic.twitter.com/f5D2jBWRQK
— Jackrabbit WBB (@GoJacksWBB) March 27, 2022

Theuninck's 3-pointer capped off a wild game of runs that saw the Jacks lead by as many as 17 in the first quarter and trail by as many as 10 in the fourth. The 27-point swing gave Alabama a double-digit lead with less than 10 minutes to play.

The Jackrabbits looked to run away from the Crimson Tide early, pushing their way out to that 17-point lead behind 60 percent field goal shooting and five 3-point buckets.

The Tide roared back with a 19-6 run to start the second quarter, cutting the Jacks' lead to just two. SDSU responded with a run of their own, a 12-0 stretch to end the half up 44-30.

Alabama came out firing in the second half, outscoring the Jacks 34-12 over the third quarter on 13-of-17 shooting with six 3-pointers to take an eight-point lead with 10 minutes to play.

The Jacks needed a big fourth-quarter rally and they delivered. After Alabama made it a 10-point game to open the quarter, Irwin hit a 3-pointer to spark a 14-0 SDSU run into a 70-66 lead. The Tide was held scoreless for nearly five minutes, finally snapping the cold spell with a layup at 3:52 on the clock. Alabama regained the lead with a 3-pointer at 73-72 before Theuninck drained a pair of 3-pointers in the last two minutes to seal the win.

Theuninck's game-sealing trey accounted for three of the junior's career-best 14 points. She put together a perfect shooting night, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to go with a pair of free throws.

Haleigh Timmer led the Jackrabbits for the third time in four games. She had 17 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter. She went 7-for-11 from the field and had five rebounds.

Paiton Burckhard posted her first double-double of the year with 14 points and a game-high 10 boards. Myah Selland rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists.

Alabama's Brittany Davis poured in 28 points to lead all players.

NOTES

Paiton Burckhard posted her sixth career double-double and first of the season
Myah Selland moved into ninth on SDSU's all-time scoring list. She has 1,566 career points.
Theuninck bested her previous high of 13, which she set against Chattanooga in the 2019-20 season.
The Jackrabbits will play in the semifinal of the WNIT for the second time in program history. The first time was in 2014, when the team lost of UTEP 63-66.
Final attendance was 4,268, the most fans for a women's basketball game at Frost since Notre Dame visited in 2015-16.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will return to Frost Thursday night to host UCLA at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round of the WNIT.

-GoJacks.com-