SDSU OVERCOMES SLOW START TO BLOW PAST OMAHA

Saturday, January 3

Omaha. Neb.

4:00 p.m.

South Dakota State University

12-4,2-0Summit League

Omaha

2-15,0-2Summit League

South Dakota St.

Omaha

Photo by: Megan Glover | South Dakota State

1/3/2026 7:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. - The South Dakota State women's basketball team overcame a slow start to beat Omaha 65-36 Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena.

Tied at 13 after the opening 10 minutes, SDSU outscored Omaha 32 to 11 during the middle quarters of the contest to pull away. SDSU improves to 12-4 overall and 2-0 in the Summit League while Omaha drops to 2-15 on the year and 0-2 in conference action.

All five Jackrabbit starters reached double figures in the win, led by Maggie Hartwig's 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half. The junior also posted a season-high 16 rebounds and had one block. Katie Vasecka followed with 11 points, then Brooklyn Meyer, Madison Mathiowetz and Mahli Abdouch scored 10 points apiece.

SDSU committed five turnovers ahead of the first-quarter media timeout, allowing Omaha out to a 10-4 lead at the 4:22 mark. The Jacks got 3-pointers from Abdouch, Vasecka and Hadley Thul over the final stretch of the first period to tie the game at 13-all. Early in the second quarter, Mathiowetz scored five straight points with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to put the Jackrabbits ahead for good at 20-16. A 13-1 run for SDSU over the final 5:30 of the third quarter put the game firmly in the Jackrabbits' favor, 45-24. SDSU outscored the Mavs 20-12 in the fourth.

In Vasecka's second game back from injury, she added three rebounds, two assists and a block to the stat sheet. Meyer had a big second half, scoring eight points on 4-of-5 shooting after the break. The senior also totaled six rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block for the game. Mathiowetz posted five rebounds, one assist and one block. Hadley Thul came off the bench to contribute five points, four steals, three assists and two boards.

SDSU tallied nine steals in the win and converted 17 Omaha turnovers into 21 Jackrabbit points. The Jacks turned the ball over 15 times but held the Mavericks to 12 points off those errors.

The Jackrabbits out-rebounded the Mavericks 49-36 and had a 17-12 advantage on the offensive glass. SDSU scored 18 second chance points, compared to five second chance points for Omaha.

SDSU shot 40% for the game and knocked down seven 3-pointers. SDSU's defense held Omaha to 25% field goal shooting.

Omaha's Daria Shelby was the only Maverick to reach double figures. She scored 10 points and had five rebounds and three steals.

NOTES

Maggie Hartwig's career high for rebounds is 20, which she set against Southeast Missouri State early in her sophomore season at Evansville. 16 rebounds is the second highest rebound total of her collegiate career.
SDSU leads the all-time series against Omaha, 59-31.
Prior to Saturday, Denver was the last team to score 36 points or fewer against South Dakota State. The Pioneers scored 34 in an 82-34 loss in February of 2023 at Frost Arena (now First Bank & Trust Arena).
The last time SDSU had five players in double figures was against Ball State on December 14 of this season - Brooklyn Meyer (20), Madison Mathiowetz (14), Maggie Hartwig (11), Mahli Abdouch (10), Hilary Behrens (10).

UP NEXT
South Dakota State returns to Brookings to host Oral Roberts Saturday, January 10 at First Bank & Trust Arena. Tip against the Golden Eagles is set for 1 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-