After three home games in a row, the women’s basketball team hits the road to take on Omaha and USD.
St. Thomas
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits women’s basketball team took another victory over the St. Thomas Tommies 75-55 at Frost Arena on Thursday, Jan. 11.
The game started off strong for the Tommies, who opened up the game on an 11-2 scoring run. The Jacks were able to pull within two points of the Tommies after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter saw more of the same, as the Jacks went scoreless for three minutes early on. This allowed the Tommies to pull away with a 35-28 lead going into halftime.
But the Jacks quickly turned things around once the third quarter got underway. They scored five three-pointers as part of a 27-point third quarter effort, giving them a 55-47 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Jacks kept it in high gear, outscoring the Tommies 47-20 in the second half to win by 20 points, their fourth-largest margin of victory this season.
They ended up 10-for-22 on three-pointers in the game, with nine of them coming in the second half. Shots in the second half improved to 65%.
Brooklyn Meyer and Madison Mathiowetz, who put up 19 points each and were the top scorers for the Jacks. Paige Meyer also scored double-digit points with five field goals made.
For St. Thomas, Amber Scalia scored the most points of any player on the court with 20, including making two of the three three-pointers that the Tommies had. Sammy Opichka was credited with the third three-pointer.
Denver
After a big win over St. Thomas on Thursday, Jan. 11, the Jacks picked up where they left off to win over the Denver Pioneers 68-50 at home on Saturday, Jan. 13.
The Jacks started with a 15-2 scoring run in the first quarter and held the Pioneers scoreless for nearly four minutes midway through the period. 20 points were put up in the paint by the Jacks and they made it a 26-9 game after the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, Paige Meyer took a hit as she was fouled and briefly left the game. Despite an 8-0 scoring run by the Pioneers, the Jacks held a 19-point lead going into the halftime break.
The Pioneers defense kicked into high gear after the break, but their offense couldn’t find the same rhythm. The Jacks scored another 14 points while the Pioneers could only manage one three-pointer. The lead for the Jacks would not dip below 17 points for the remainder of the game.
Paige Meyer put up the most points of any player on the court with 17, including four free throws. Brooklyn Meyer also put up double-digit numbers with 11 points. The Jacks connected on 51% of their total shots, while they only went 3-for-10 on three pointers.
Two double digit scorers were found on the Pioneers bench: Emma Smith with 13, and Alaisha Brown with 11. With only four three-pointers scored out of 25 attempts, this resulted in a 16% success rate for the Pioneers.
The win improves the Jacks record to 11-5, now on a five-game win streak while the Pioneers fall to 4-12. The Jacks have now won 52 of their last 53 Summit League contests, their last loss coming at South Dakota in the 2021-22 season.
Omaha
The Jacks’ next contest will take place in Omaha against the Mavericks, who are currently 4-13 on the season on a seven-game losing streak, their last win coming on the road against the Texas Southern Tigers on Dec. 18. In their last contest on Saturday, Jan. 13 against the North Dakota State Bison, the Mavericks had two double-digit scorers. True freshman forward Cora Olsen put up 22 points, a career high while graduate guard Aaliyah Stanley scored 15 points.
Olsen has only started three games but has playing time in all but one game this season. She is averaging just 5.8 points per game, only scoring 92 total points this season. Olsen is 45.2% on her shots while maintaining a 22% three-pointer rate.
Stanley fares better, averaging 12.8 points per game and leads the Mavericks in points with 218, while making 45.9% of her shots, another team high, and 46.6% of her three-pointers, second-best on the team.
Entering this contest, the Mavericks are 41.2% on shots and 34.7% on three-pointers. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m on Thursday, Jan. 18 in Omaha, and can be viewed on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
South Dakota
The Jacks will have a quick turnaround of two days as they return to Frost Arena to host South Dakota as part of the Interstate Series.
The Coyotes are 12-6 on the season and are 1-2 in Summit League conference play, with their sole conference win coming over Omaha on New Year’s.
Larkins leads the team in scoring by averaging 16.9 points per game. She connects on just over 50% of her shots while making 39% of her three-pointers.
Holmes is second-best in scoring with exactly 200 points, averaging 11.1 points per game. She is 40% on her shots and shoots at 37% on three-pointers.
The Coyotes as a whole are 45.2% on their shots and 35.1% on three-pointers.
The game is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20 and can be watched on Midco Sports and is also available on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.