Faith Moldan

The SDSU women’s basketball team started the season off right Tuesday, Nov. 9, getting win number one out of the way.

SDSU faced Southwest Minnesota State in an exhibition game that drew over 1,000 fans. The Jacks were down early, 7-0, but recovered and went on a 19-2 run to take a 42-30 lead into halftime. SDSU continued to play well and came away with a 94-74 win.

Senior Shannon Schlagel led SDSU with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Christina Gilbert tallied 16 points and freshman Andrea Verdegan added 13 points. Megan Vogel and Sarita DeBoer each had 12 points.

“Our play was sloppy at times, but I saw sparks of good things,” head coach Aaron Johnston said. “Andrea and Megan played well defensively and got us big baskets.”

SDSU out-shot Southwest and had a rebounding advantage of 40-31 after being behind in rebounds 19-16 at halftime.

“We’ll look at this game and evaluate it to find things we did well that we should continue and things we didn’t do well that we need to work on,” Johnston said.

This first win added confidence to the team as they went into the Saturday, Nov. 13, game against Minnesota State-Mankato, coached by former Jackrabbit player and assistant coach Lori Fish.

Though SDSU was held without a field goal for the first seven minutes, they forced 35 turnovers in the game and went on a 11-0 run to gain the lead in the first half. SDSU took a 29-19 lead into the locker room at halftime and ended the game with a 68-41 victory.

Twelve of the 13 Jackrabbit players to see action in the game scored. Vogel led the scoring with 11 points and Schlagel added 10 points and eight rebounds. The team also held a 35-33 advantage in rebounding.

The team competes in the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament Nov. 19 to 20 in Turlock, Calif and the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands Nov. 25 to 27, where they will face high level D-I opponents.

#1.885650:685310959.jpg:Girls BB.jpg:Forward Sarah Meckley shoots a jump shot Saturday against MSU-Mankato.:Mike Carlson