BROOKINGS South Dakota State outscored Northern Iowa 25-13 in the fourth quarter on Saturday night and the Jackrabbits came away with a 68-53 victory at First Bank & Trust Arena.
SDSU (9-2) shot 32.5% in the first three quarters on Saturday night and in the fourth the Jacks were 10-of-13 from the field. SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said he thought his team found a rhythm in the fourth quarter, which was something they struggled to find in the first three quarters.
I think we got stops. We didnt let them score. I think we just got into a rhythm. We were uncomfortable offensively for a lot of that game, the second quarter on. I think their switching on defense caused us some problems. But I think in the fourth quarter we just settled in, got into some good actions against their zone and their matchup defense, and we looked a little more in rhythm and more confident, Johnston said.
Freshman forward Katie Vasecka was a big reason the Jacks pulled away from the Panthers. SDSU led 47-42 with just over nine minutes to play and Vasecka scored eight-straight points. She made a 3-pointer, a lay up and then converted an and-one to put SDSU up 55-42 with six minutes left and that was the stretch that put the game away for the Jacks.
Vasecka said the eight-point burst came within the offense.
It kind of just came [to me]. My teammates got me into good positions and got me the ball. We just kind of played together and the shots were falling, Vasecka said.
Vasecka finished with 10 points and six rebounds. She has played 20 minutes per game so far this season and is averaging 7.4 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field. Johnston said the freshman from Tea has had a lot of success so far because shes a tough matchup and doesnt force anything.
She just has a ton of talent. Shes unique in the sense that shes 6-foot-2 and has point guard skills and can still finish at the rim and still shoot it. Shes just a really tough matchup for people. The other thing about Katie is, shes just unselfish. You dont see her out there forcing plays or trying to do things as a young player. She just fits in really well with everybody else, Johnston said.
UNI (5-5) scored the first two points of the game and then SDSU went on a 10-2 run. The Jacks led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Jacks then went on an 8-2 run out of the quarter break to make it 20-8 with 7:15 left in the half. The Panthers would then answer with a 14-4 run in the final 6:40 of the half to cut the SDSU lead to 24-22 heading into halftime.
It looked like SDSU was going to pull away near the midway point of the third quarter. UNI head coach Tanya Warren was called for a technical foul with 6:17 left in the quarter and that sparked a 12-2 run for the Jacks and put them up 41-28 with 3:15 left in the quarter. However, the Panthers wouldnt go away as they answered with an 11-2 run to end the quarter and that made it 43-40 heading into the fourth.
Johnston said he was happy that his team didnt let UNIs runs or their poor shooting in the first three quarters bother them and that led to them eventually pulling away in the final quarter.
Weve been really tough mentally this year, Johnston said. Very resilient, very in the moment. Weve had plenty of games where weve been down and had to come back and make shots to win it. Weve had games where weve been up and had teams come back and get back in it and we have to separate again. Weve had just about everything. Our versatility and depth has been important in that and our leaders are steady. Ive just liked how our team has played all year long.
For the game SDSU shot 42.9% from the field and was 7-of-22 from three. Brooklyn Meyer had 18 points to lead the Jacks. Paige Meyer had 12 points and Madison Mathiowetz had nine. Haleigh Timmer had 10 points and six rebounds.
The Panthers were led by Mya McDermott who had 12 points. McDermott came into Saturdays game as the nation’s leading scorer, averaging 23 points per game. Johnston said he thought everyone for the Jacks played a part in holding McDermott in check.
I thought our perimeter players did a good job, because we switched a lot of screens, but I also thought our post players did a good job. There just werent many times where she had simple looks. There were a few, but not a lot, and I think we made them work really hard, Johnston said.
SDSU will take on Dakota State at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before closing out the non-conference at No. 6 ranked Texas at 2 p.m. on Dec. 22.
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