BROOKINGS – South Dakota State pulled away from a deliberate IPFW team in the second half for a 73-51 victory in the Jackrabbits’ Summit League women’s basketball home opener on Thursday at Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits (11-4, 2-1), who were missing two starters for a third consecutive game, led just 42-40 near the mid point of the third quarter before getting things going.
Ellie Thompson opened a 10-0 spurt with a pair of free throws with 6:18 to go in the period. Madison Guebert added two foul shots and Thompson scored again down low.
Buckets by Tiffaney Flaata and Ena Viso pushed the margin to 52-40 with 2:50 remaining.
The advantage stood at 58-45 entering the fourth, when SDSU continued to grind away with a 15-2 run to put the game away as the lead peaked at 26 points – 73-47 – with 2:51 showing on the clock.
“It was a really good win for us,” said SDSU coach Aaron Johnston. “I thought we played well on both sides. I thought our zone was good today; I thought that changed the flow of the game. Fort Wayne has some quickness getting to the basket (and) we didn’t handle their penetration well throughout the night. I thought our zone was better and kind of changed their rhythm.
“And then it was just good to see the balance we had on offense. The last few games we’ve taken a lot of 3s; it’s good to see Madison, Kerri (Young), everybody going to the basket and not set- tling for jump shots. Obviously, Ellie had a really good game inside, too. We just found some good matchups on the offensive end and what they were doing defensively.”
Thompson scored 19 points on 8-of- 8 shooting while adding nine rebounds. Guebert also finished with 19 points, and Young added 15 to go with seven boards.
Perhaps overlooked because of the slow pace of the game was the Jackrabbits’ performance from the field. They shot 56.3 percent (27-of-48), including 2-of-7 from downtown, and had just five turnovers through three quarters – they finished with 12.
The Mastodons were up 17-16 after a quarter. SDSU was ahead 38-31 at halftime.
Clarissa Ober, the team’s starting post, missed her third straight game with an injury.
“She’s working out; not live practices but she’s been doing some on-the- court work, which has been good,” Johnston said when asked for a timeframe on her return. “When she comes to practice, she’s wearing everything everybody else is and kind of jumps in a few drills. But I don’t think she’s close enough where we’re ready to say it’s tomorrow. I think it will be sooner rather than later, but I don’t know if she’s quite ready yet; and that’s just from me watching. I don’t ask our trainers every single day. I kind of let them do their job and let her make a good decision when she’s ready.
“We’ll be pleased when she’s back but we’ve just spent probably a lot more time trying to figure out what to do when she’s not here. We spend more time with the players on the floor than we do the ones that are rehabbing.”
Rachel Rinehart had 13 points and Anna Lappenkuper 12 for IPFW (3-13, 0-2), which finished 28.8 percent (19-of- 66) from the floor.
South Dakota State plays host to Omaha in the first half of a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. The men’s game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
