In font of a Wednesday evening crowd of 4,156, the Jackrabbits took down the Bison 63-55 at First Bank & Trust Arena.
South Dakota State moves to 18-3 (8-0, Summit League) with eight more games left of conference play.
Brooklyn Meyer was South Dakota State’s standout performer, totaling 24 points, nine boards and a pair of assists. The Iowa junior shot 8/12 on field goals for the night and snagged two steals and a block on 31 minutes of action.
Though shooting 33.33% from beyond the arc, the Jackrabbits only managed to pin down three shots from deep, while NDSU scored 27 points from three.
NDSU got their systems going early with a layup from Avery Koenen and a three-pointer from Molly Lenz to take the lead 5-2 through one minute of action.
The Jacks fired back with six points of their own before the Bison tied the game 8-8 courtesy of a three-ball from Abbie Draper.
After Brooklyn Meyer earned a pair of shots from the stripe, NDSU went on a 5-0 run and didn’t score for the rest of the first quarter. The Jacks would go on to score three more points but would head to the sidelines down two after the first quarter.
The second quarter was all SDSU but started with another three from Lenz. The Bison would go on to score two more points throughout the course of the quarter.
South Dakota State went on an 18-0 run before NDSU dropped two in from the charity stripe to end the quarter 31-20 in favor of the Jacks.
Following a disappointing offensive quarter, the Bison fought back throughout the third quarter, outscoring the Jackrabbits 21-8 in the third quarter.
North Dakota State started the fourth quarter with a 41-29 lead over South Dakota State.
SDSU finally worked their way back and tied the game 48-48 with a basket in the paint from Brooklyn Meyer with six and a half minutes left of action.
After a free throw from Brooklyn Meyer and three points from the Bison, Paige Meyer hit a deep ball to take the lead at 52-51.
Freshman Katie Vaseka dropped one from beyond the arc late to give SDSU a 58-55 lead and the Bison were forced to foul after a make from Paige Meyer, sending Mesa Byom to the line twice to score three points and take the game.
Haleigh Timmer and Paige Meyer dropped 13 a piece in the battle, with Timmer going 6/7 on field goals and Paige Meyers adding three boards, two assists and three steals to the stat sheet.
Byom dropped four points 10 rebounds and led the team in assists with four on the night.
For the Bison, Abby Schulte led the way with 14 points to her name. Schulte also tallied three steals and three boards.
Draper’s 13 points were the second most for the Bison and her eight rebounds were the most for the team.
Next up
SDSU will hit the floor again Saturday to play the Omaha Mavericks on the road. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.