FARGO, N.D. – The South Dakota State women’s basketball team picked up a 68-53 road win against North Dakota State Wednesday night at the Scheels Center.
The Jackrabbits improve to 22-3 on the season and remain unbeaten in Summit League action at 12-0. The Bison slip to 16-8 overall and 8-3 in the conference. The home loss for the Bison is just their second of the season.
Paige Meyer had a stellar second half, going 5-of-6 from the field for 13 points after halftime. She finished with 15 points, nine assists, four rebounds and a steal in 32 minutes of action. She was joined in double figures by Haleigh Timmer and Brooklyn Meyer with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
NDSU hit three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the contest and took its only lead of the game at 9-7 partway through the first. Madison Mathiowetz answered with a trey for the Jackrabbits to take the lead back for good as SDSU scored 14 of the final 18 points of the opening quarter to lead 21-13. Mathiowetz, Brooklyn Meyer and Kallie Theisen combined for SDSU’s 13 points in the second quarter and the Jacks led by 10, 34-24, at halftime.
The SDSU defense locked down after the break, holding NDSU to only three field goals and 11 total points in the third quarter. Paige Meyer scored eight points during a 9-0 run to go ahead 44-29. The Jackrabbits stretched their lead to as many as 21 in the fourth quarter with 3-pointers from Mathiowetz, Paige Meyer and Katie Vasecka. The Bison went 4-of-5 from the floor down the stretch, cutting their final deficit to 15.
SDSU finished the game shooting 50 percent both overall and from the 3-point line. Paige Meyer, Timmer, Mathiowetz and Vasecka knocked down two treys each for eight as a team. Mesa Byom paced the Jackrabbits with six rebounds, followed by Theisen and Mathiowetz with five apiece.
NDSU connected on nine 3-pointers as a team but was held to just eight points in the paint, compared to 36 paint points in the paint by the Jackrabbits. Brooklyn Meyer had two blocked shots and the Jackrabbits tallied five rejections as a team. The Bison were led by Avery Koenen, who recorded 13 points and 11 rebounds.
NOTES
- SDSU is 65-39 against the Bison all-time. The Jackrabbits have won 24 straight meetings.
- Mesa Byom reached 600 career points and 500 career rebounds in the win.
- Paige Meyer is at 448 career assists, two shy of sixth place (450) and four shy of fifth place (452) on SDSU’s all-time assists chart. If she surpasses 452 career assists, she will have the most career assists by a Jackrabbit in the Division I era.
- SDSU has won 69 consecutive Summit League regular season games.
UP NEXT
SDSU returns to Brookings to host South Dakota in the Interstate Series rivalry game Saturday afternoon at First Bank & Trust Arena.