The South Dakota State women’s basketball team used a big third quarter to top Omaha 68-61 Thursday night at Baxter Arena. The Jacks remain unbeaten in Summit League action at 8-0 while Omaha slips to 4-4.
The Jackrabbits (15-5, 8-0 Summit) trailed by three at the half but outscored the Mavericks 24-8 in the third quarter to go up 57-44 with 10 minutes to play. UNO cut SDSU’s lead to six points in the final minute of the contest but then missed two 3-point attempts in the last 30 seconds.
Paiton Burckhard made her 150th career appearance for SDSU and paced the squad with 14 points. She also tallied five rebounds and a pair of assists. Myah Selland and Haleigh Timmer finished with 12 points apiece on matching 5-for-9 shooting nights. Selland just missed a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds, and dished a team-high four assists.
SDSU’s halftime deficit was quickly erased with a 12-2 Jackrabbit run to start the third quarter. SDSU put up 10 straight points to end the quarter and extend its lead to double figures.
The Mavericks strung together an 8-0 stretch in the fourth quarter to pull back within seven and later used a 7-1 run to make it a six-point game with 28 seconds on the clock.
Brooklyn Meyer notched eight points and six boards off the bench. Paige Meyer provided five points, five steals and five rebounds to go with two assists.
SDSU had a slim 42-40 edge in rebounding and an 8-2 advantage in second chance points. The Jacks also had the upper hand in turnovers forced (12-8), steals (9-3) and points off turnovers (14-8).
Kennedi Grant and Elena Pilakouta led Omaha with 17 points apiece. Grace Cave scored seven points and recorded 10 rebounds.
NOTES
• Paiton Burckhard’s 150 career appearances for SDSU is second in program history only to Tylee Irwin’s 159 career games.
• SDSU is now 50-31 all-time against UNO.
UP NEXT
South Dakota State continues its road trip to take on Denver Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gymnasium. Tip in Denver is set for 2 p.m. CT
