BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO.com) — South Dakota State women’s basketball defeated Oral Roberts 58-44 on Thursday evening at Frost Arena to advance to 10-6 overall and 2-0 in Summit League play.
Down 31-24 at the half, the Jackrabbits outscored Oral Roberts 22-4 in the third quarter to comeback and earn its 10th win of the season.
“Really good win, great second half. Defensively, we played very well that second half,” said head coach Aaron Johnston. “First half, I thought we just gave up some 3’s there in situations where we just needed to be a little bit better and they really took advantage of it.”
The Jacks were led by Paiton Burckhard for the second consecutive game as she turned in 17 points and eight rebounds, while adding three assists. Tagyn Larson pulled down eight rebounds and added 11 points, four blocks and a team-leading six assists.
Megan Bultsma scored 10 points off the bench to tie her career high. Rylie Cascio Jensen dished four assists and Tylee Irwin recorded seven points and four boards.
SDSU shot 41.5 percent from the field, while holding the Golden Eagles to just 28.1 percent. ORU held a 41-33 advantage in rebounds.
While the game started with back-to-back Burckhard layups to put the Jacks ahead, ORU outscored State 18-10 in the remainder of the quarter to take the lead.
The Golden Eagles carried its momentum throughout the rest of the half as they went 6-of-16 in the second quarter, including a last second 3-pointer to take its largest lead at 31-24 headed into the locker room.
A layup by Irwin to open the second half would start what would be a 22-4 run by the Jacks in the third quarter. The Jackrabbit defense held the Golden Eagles to just 10 percent (1-of-10) shooting on the frame.
“We were good in the third quarter offensively-really good,” Johnston said. “I thought we were playing well before then, but just didn’t make shots. We got quality shots and played really well offensively, we just needed to find a way to get more in the basket and we did that.”
A pair of Burckhard free throws with just under 3 minutes to play gave SDSU its largest lead of 16 points.
In the final 25:01 of the game, Oral Roberts went 4-of-36 from the field while committing 12 turnovers. The Jackrabbits outscored ORU 36-16 in the stretch.
Oral Roberts was led by Keni Jo Lippe who turned in 16 points, while Regan Schumacher paced the defense with 10 rebounds.
“I’ll credit Oral Roberts, I think they’re an awfully good team, I really do,” Johnston added. “They’re multi-dimensional, they make shots, they post up and they defend really well. We have to really credit our players for how well they played in the second half. That’s a really good team we got to play against.”
Game Notes
The Jackrabbits are now 20-6 all-time against Oral Roberts.SDSU has won the last 15 contests against the Golden Eagles. Megan Bultsma has scored a total of 19 points in the past two contests. So far in Summit League action, Paiton Burckhard has turned in 38 points (17-of-27) and 17 rebounds.
Up Next
South Dakota State remains home as it hosts Western Illinois in the Lamb Bonanza on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. prior to the men’s game at 4:15.
