BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO.com) — South Dakota State women’s basketball won its seventh-consecutive game with a 99-64 win over North Dakota Thursday night at Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits (14-6, 6-0) shot 50 percent from the field, recorded 22 assists and won the rebounding battle 48-36. Defensively, the Jacks held the Fighting Hawks to just 1-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Paiton Burckhard led all scorers with a career-high 27 points and shot a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line. Tylee Irwin grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and Sydney Stapleton dished a career-best six assists. Tagyn Larson added 17 points and seven rebounds. Scoring in double figures for the fifth-straight game was Megan Bultsma with 11 points, while tying a career-best nine boards.
Burckhard scored seven of SDSU’s first 10 points as the Jacks held a 10-6 advantage in the first three minutes of action. Tied 12-12 at the first media timeout, Tori Nelson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Jacks back in front. SDSU closed the opening quarter on a 14-0 run to lead 26-14.
“Great balance today from a lot of different people,” head coach Aaron Johnston said. “Paiton had another career high. She’s had a lot of career high’s lately, so that’s good. She’s been in a really good rhythm; really efficient, too. She’s not playing 35 minutes a game to get there. She’s doing an awful lot in a pretty short period of time.”
State continued to hold the momentum by going on a 7-2 run early in the second quarter to force a UND timeout with 6:48 remaining in the quarter as it stretched its lead to 35-18. The Jacks maintained their double-digit advantage for the rest of the half with a solid defensive effort and sinking six-straight free throws to lead 43-25 at the break.
“We took advantage of getting to the free throw line a lot, so we handled their physicality and that style they played with really well,” Johnston said.
Coming out of the locker room, SDSU scored six unanswered points to push its lead to 24. A Stapleton 3-pointer capped off a 6-0 scoring run to put the Jacks ahead by 29 with under a minute left in the quarter. State led 74-45 heading into the final frame.
“I thought our perimeter players really had a nice game getting to the basket and were a little more aggressive than they have been, too, so it’s good to see the whole group play with a little more confidence going to the basket,” Johnston said.
A strong balanced performance continued for the Jacks, who saw its largest lead of the night come on a Larson 3-pointer with 5:57 remaining in the game. Nelson scored seven points in the final four minutes to finish off the Fighting Hawks.
Game Notes
South Dakota State is now 26-41 in the all-time series against North Dakota. The Jackrabbits have claimed the last six contests against the Fighting Hawks. The Jacks scored over 90 points for the second consecutive game and for the third time this season.SDSU has combined for a total of 199 points in its last two victories, which ties the most points scored in back-to-back games in the Division I era. The last time was in 2007 against NJIT (W, 96-30) and Purdue Fort Wayne (W, 103-51). Four Jackrabbits scored in double figures for the second consecutive game, including Paiton Burckhard, Tagyn Larson, Tori Nelson and Megan Bultsma.Burckhard, Irwin, Stapleton and Bultsma turned in career-best marks in the win.
Up Next
South Dakota State travels to Vermillion to take on South Dakota on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
