BROOKINGS Another strong third quarter propelled South Dakota State to a 78-61 win over Kansas City on Saturday afternoon.
SDSU led 34-30 at halftime and then the Jackrabbits outscored the Roos 25-12 in the third and that allowed them to pull away on Saturday. It was the third-straight game that SDSU has dominated the third as the Jacks have outscored their opponents 71-34 in the third quarter in the past three games.
SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said there isnt anything in particular that is going well for the Jacks in the third quarter as of late, he just thinks his team is doing a good job coming out of halftime because they are more used to what theyre seeing on offense.
I think comfort level [has a lot to do with it]. I think we get a lot of different looks from different teams. Some of them weve seen coming into the game because theyve used them against other opponents and other times its maybe a new look against us. So, I think [were doing better in the third quarter because] were getting more comfortable with what we want to do out there. I dont think theres anything else to it, Johnston said.
SDSU got off to a fast start as the Jacks led 18-3 just under five minutes into the game. The Roos then scored six-straight points to get back in the game and the Jacks led 24-12 heading into the second.
Kansas City opened the second with a 13-3 run and tied the game with 3:10 left in the first half. SDSU then outscored the Roos 7-3 in the final three minutes of the half.
The Jacks were 4-of-13 from the field and 1-of-7 from three in the second quarter. SDSU senior point guard Pagie Meyer said it was just a matter of missing shots in the second.
I think we were getting good, open shots. I think we were maybe just rushing them a little. We were trying to find ways to get it into our post a little more and get kick outs that way, but yeah, we were getting good looks and just rushing them a little bit, Paige Meyer said.
The Jacks led 44-39 with six minutes left in the third and then went on a 15-3 run to close out the quarter and led 59-42 heading into the fourth. SDSU opened the fourth with an 11-4 run and led 70-46 with 7:11 left in the game. Each team ended up scoring 19 points in the fourth and that made the final 78-61.
SDSU shot 54.2% from the field and was 12-of-27 from three. The Jacks were led by Paige Meyer who had 15 points and eight assists. Johnston said when his point guard plays like that it makes the Jacks extremely hard to beat.
I think these last couple games Paige has played exceptionally. Shes taking and making shots like shes very capable of. She just looks so in control and in command offensively. She was hard to stop today in the pick and roll, and then when they did stop her she found people. Whether it was on the roll to the post or a kick out to an open shot. I just thought her decisions today were so good. Shes playing at a high level and thats going to make us an even better team, Johnston said.
The Jacks had four others score in double figures. Haleigh Timmer had 13 points and Brooklyn Meyer had 12 points. Katie Vasecka had 13 points and Madison Mathiowetz had 10 points.
Johnston said that type of balanced scoring is what he wants to see from his team night in and night out.
I think we have players that are capable of [scoring more points]. You look around our league and theres some players that are putting up big numbers that are impressive, but theyre also just a crazy volume of shots. Its individuals who are really good players, but theyre just doing a lot. I would just like our team to not worry about that. Id like for them to feel as a group that theyre better than they are individually. We have players that can go out and get a ton of shots and really score, but as long as we buy into the we part of it, I think were going to be a better team, Johnston said.
Kansas City shot 44.4% from the field and was 2-of-12 from three. The Roos were led by Alayna Contreras who had 21 points. Eluani Bennett had 14 points and Tamia Ugass had 12 points.
The Roos had a 34-24 advantage in rebounds. SDSU had 12 turnovers and Kansas City had 15. The Jacks were 14-of-21 at the free throw line and the Roos were 11-of-19 at the charity stripe.
SDSU improved to 14-3 overall and 4-0 in the Summit League. The Jacks have won four-straight games after falling to No. 6 ranked Texas 104-57. Johnston said hes liked the response from his team since that large loss to the Longhorns.
[The Texas game] was a tough one. We didnt play well. We lost our focus against an elite team, but we didnt put our best foot forward in that game. Weve come back and played really well. I think our team is in a good place, but I think they recognize that theres still a lot of work to be done. I feel really good about how theyve been playing. Theyre still hungry and motivated to be a better team. Its just way too early in the season to be content because theres a lot of basketball in front of us, Johnston said.
SDSU will close out its three-game homestand next weekend as the Jacks will host North Dakota. Tip off between the Jacks and Fighting Hawks is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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