Jackrabbit women win, will take on Western Illinois in semifinals March 8
SIOUX FALLS – The South Dakota State women blistered the nets in the second half of a 93-52 rout of sixth-seeded IPFW in opening round action of the Summit League Championship on Sunday, March 7, at the Sioux Falls Arena.
SDSU will face seventh-seeded Western Illinois in semifinal action at 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 8. IPFW ended its season at 13-17.
The third-seeded Jackrabbits improved to 20-10 overall, posting their fourth consecutive 20-win season. The victory also was the 100th for the SDSU senior class of Alison Anderson, Maria Boever and Ketty Cornemann.
Neither team was able to find its shooting touch for much of the first half, hovering around the 25 percent mark midway through the opening stanza. Holding an 18-16 lead, a stifling Jackrabbit defense held IPFW without a field goal for the final seven-plus minutes of the half and the SDSU offense began to find its rhythm. Jill Young and Kristin Rotert hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the Jackrabbits up 26-16 and SDSU carried a 32-16 lead into the intermission.
The second half was a shooting exhibition by the Jackrabbits, who connected on 14 of their first 16 shots from the field, including going 5-for-5 on three-pointers. Cornemann fueled the second-half surge, which saw the Jackrabbit lead grow to 40 points, 65-25, with three trifectas from nearly the same spot on the left wing.
SDSU made it 8-for-8 from long range in the second half as Young, Rotert and Cornemann all connected from behind the arc. Cornemann was 4-for-4 on threes in the second half, while Rotert made a season-high five three-pointers in the game.
As a team, the Jackrabbits finished the game 13-of-29 from three-point range and an even 50 percent overall, 34-of-68. At the line, SDSU made 12-of-18 attempts, 66.7 percent.
SDSU also committed a season-low eight turnovers and set a season-high with 27 assists. Anderson and Macie Michelson each tallied seven assists from their point guard positions, with Anderson’s total a career high.
Boever led five Jackrabbit players in double figures with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. Rotert tallied 17, with Cornemann and Jennie Sunnarborg each putting up 15. Young rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11.
IPFW, which was held to five field goals and 16 percent shooting in the first half, ended the game 16-of-61, 26.2 percent. The Mastodons were 8-of-22 from three-point range and 12-of-15 on free throws.
The Jackrabbits also held a 47-36 rebounding advantage, led by a career-high 10 boards from junior Jennifer Schuttloffel.
NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series against IPFW 12-0 … the Jackrabbits improved to 4-0 in Summit League postseason tournament games … SDSU recorded its eighth 20-win season under head coach Aaron Johnston and 14th in program history.
