The top-seeded Jackrabbits won in dominant fashion in their first game of the Summit League Championship over the Omaha Mavericks 87-67.
Brooklyn Meyer was involved the entire game, tallying 16 points, four rebounds and six assists. The Iowa native shot 8-11 in 22 minutes.
After a turnover and missed layup from Mesa Byom, Mavericks guard Grace Cave hit a jumper, giving Omaha a 2-0 start. Cave led the Mavericks in scoring 20 points in the battle while shooting 9-23. Byom finished the game with seven boards for SDSU, the most on the team.
But that was their only lead of the game.
Brooklyn Meyer found Madison Mathiowetz in the paint for SDSU’s first score of the game which started a 6-0 for SDSU.
Omaha and SDSU would go back and forth with ties before a six-point quarter from Madysen Vlastuin gave the Jacks a 21-16 lead going into the second quarter.
South Dakota State’s defense showed out in the second quarter, only allowing eight points in the quarter.
“We had some pretty good performances,” SDSU Head Coach Aaron Johnston said. “It was fun to see Mady [Vlastuin] come off the bench and really shoot the three well like she did, certainly can be a big part of what we do.”
Brooklyn Meyer and Kallie Theisen each scored six points in the second. Theisen shot a perfect 100% from the field in the quarter. The redshirt senior tallied eight points and six boards in the game.
The Jacks and Mavericks hit the locker room at half with a score of 39-24 in favor of SDSU.
In the third, Omaha outscored South Dakota State 23-22, including a 10-point quarter by forward Aaliyah Moore.
Though Paige Meyer lost the ball twice in the third, she led the Jackrabbit in scoring for the quarter with eight (4-5 from the field) and picked up a steal. The senior finished with a quiet 12 points and added three assists and a rebound to her totals for the game.
In the fourth, South Dakota State had its best quarter of the game, scoring 26 points to win the game.
The Jackrabbits were efficient from the field, shooting just under 60% while knocking down seven of their 18 total three-point shots. For Omaha, the team went 25-65 (38.5%) on field goals and shot just above 26% from beyond the arc.
“[I] thought everybody was just locked in and played really well,” Johnston said. “It’s fun to have a chance to play again, looking forward to a little more rest tomorrow and to get back here on Saturday.”
South Dakota State will take on the winner of St. Thomas and North Dakota on Saturday at Noon at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and can be streamed on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
