Ariy-El Boynton

The SDSU women’s basketball team took one more giant step closer to making a return trip to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament by beating the UMKC Kangaroos 78-48 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO.

With the win the Jacks are on the verge of having a 20 win season (19-6 overall).If the Jacks win one their final three regular season games or one post-season game, that would make it six years in a row that a SDSU team would have 20 wins in a season. More importantly the Jacks held their two-game lead over their Summit League opponents, (12-2 in the Summit, while Western Illinois is 10-4 in the Summit).

The UMKC coaching staff gave credit to their Summit League rival, “I think South Dakota State is the best team in the conference,” said Kangaroos head coach Candace White-Whitaker. “They are so physical, they play very well together and when they go to the bench they just don’t drop off.”

While Johnston had some critical words about his team performance, there was certainly more positives than negatives.

SDSU out-boarded UMKC 51-28 and had an astonishing 23-3 offensive rebound difference. White-Whitaker said the offensive rebound margin was a large reason for the blows out win for the Jacks.

UMKC (9-15, 2-11) made a run late in the first half, using a Sierra Radke three-point buzzer beater to cut the lead to five points at half-time. SDSU countered the Kangaroos momentum by going runs of 10-0, 8-0 and 7-0 and making seven three-pointers in the second frame (after only making one in the first half).

UMKC was led by sophomore Chazny Morris who had 17 points and four rebounds, seniors Radke contributed 10 points and Marta Waalen grabbed six rebounds and scored seven hard fought points.

For the Jacks, Stacie Oistad who came off the bench to score a game high 18 points, and sophomore Ketty Cornemann racked up 12 points. Junior Willow Lake native Jennifer Warkenthien scored 11 points, along with six rebounds.

About 200 Jackrabbit fans piled behind SDSU’s bench at the historical arena and the players appreciated their efforts. “It was amazing to see the yellow and blue, behind you,” said junior Oistad. “It’s special to hear them, and they even brought us brownies.”

SDSU will look for its ninth win in a row when they play border rival, North Dakota State at Frost Arena on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.