South Dakota State University's Independent Student-Run Newspaper Since 1885

The Collegian

South Dakota State University's Independent Student-Run Newspaper Since 1885

The Collegian

South Dakota State University's Independent Student-Run Newspaper Since 1885

The Collegian

Jacks fall to University at Buffalo

LAS VEGAS — Less than 24 hours after giving the fourth-ranked team in the country a scare, the South Dakota State women’s basketball team came up just short again, this time against the University at Buffalo 61-55.

SDSU battled back from a deficit that was as big as 12 points to take a 55-54 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the contest, but Buffalo would score the final seven points to seal the victory.

With the second loss of the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, SDSU fell to 3-3 on the season.

“Basketball is just a really funny thing,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said in a postgame radio interview. “Coming down here we had a lot of momentum and were feeling really good about things, but 48 hours later we’re 3-3. That’s how this goes.”

Against Baylor, SDSU relied heavily on the 3-point jump shot, but Saturday was a different story.

Senior guard Madison Guebert picked up where she left off against Baylor, making a 3-pointer on the Jacks’ first possession. It would be the lone long-range shot of the first half for SDSU as they would miss the next seven attempts.

Buffalo’s zone defense took away many of the good looks the Jacks had the night before, so SDSU looked to feed the ball into the post to attack Buffalo’s zone defense.

“They gave a good zone and they communicate well,” sophomore wing Myah Selland said in a postgame radio interview. “We just struggled to find any comfort within it.”

On the night, the Jackrabbits shot 21-55 from the field, including just 4-for-20 from behind the arc. Buffalo’s defense also forced 17 Jackrabbit turnovers.

The Jacks held Buffalo’s star guard, senior Cierra Dillard, to a season-low 20 points and Buffalo shot just 20-for-57 as a team from the field.

Dillard added nine rebounds and six steals in a solid performance at both ends of the court.

“For the most part, three-quarters of our defense, I thought, was excellent,” Johnston said. “Offensively we were just not good today.

Buffalo was without their second-leading scorer, Courtney Wilkins.

Miller and Selland both tallied 14 points to lead the Jacks in scoring. For Miller, all of her points came in the second half.

SDSU will look to snap the two-game losing streak when they host University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Phoenix at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 in Frost Arena.

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