The nationally ranked South Dakota State University women’s basketball team strung together big runs to open each half, downing IPFW 83-56 in Summit League action Monday night at Frost Arena.
In winning their seventh straight game, the Jackrabbits, ranked 19th in the
USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll and 25th in the Associated Press rankings, improved to 21-2 overall and 10-1 in The Summit League. IPFW dropped to 3-19 overall, 2-9 in league play.
SDSU got out of the gates quickly, scoring the first 12 points of the game and holding a 15-2 lead a little more than five minutes into the game. The Mastodons got to within six points, 22-16 at the 9:39 mark, but the Jackrabbits went on a 9-0 run late in the half to build their largest lead of the first half at 46-29. SDSU led 46-32 at halftime.
In the second half, the Jackrabbits put the game away with a 20-4 run over the first eight and a half minutes to go by 30, 66-36. SDSU eventually built a 34-point lead, 81-47, in the closing minutes, before IPFW ended the game with a 9-2 run.
The Jackrabbits received another strong performance from
Jennifer Warkenthien, who tallied 26 points and shared game-high honors in rebounds with nine as SDSU held a 44-34 advantage on the boards. A senior from Willow Lake, Warkenthien was 9-of-13 from the field and 6-for-7 on free throws as she topped the 20-point mark for the third consecutive game and fifth time in six outings.
Jill Young came off the bench to score 11 points, making three three-pointers on the night.
Ketty Cornemann added 10 points.
The Jackrabbits finished the game 29-of-64 from the field, 45.3 percent, including 9-of-21 on three-pointers. At the line, SDSU made 16-of-21 attempts, 76.2 percent.
IPFW received 22 points and nine rebounds from junior center Eva Ivanova. Chelsey Jackson added 12 points for the Mastodons, who were 21-of-58 from the field, 36.2 percent. IPFW, which came into the game leading The Summit League in three-pointers per game, was held to 3-for-14 shooting from long range. The Mastodons converted 11-of-14 attempts at the line, 78.6 percent.
SDSU resumes Summit League play Saturday at Western Illinois. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. at Western Hall in Macomb, Ill.
NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series with IPFW, 9-0 ... the Jackrabbits improved to 26-3 all-time in Summit League play, including 16-0 at Frost Arena ... SDSU improved to 91-31 against Division I opponents since making the transition to Division I at the start of the 2004-05 season ... Warkenthien moved into 20th place on the Jackrabbit career scoring chart with 1,179 points, passing Rachel Halsrud (1,154 points from 1991-94) and Lisa Kurtenbach (1,174 points from 1986-89) ... Warkenthien also moved into 10th on the SDSU career rebounding chart with 678, surpassing the 674 rebounds by Karla Stevenson (1984-87) ... SDSU is 17-1 when leading at the half and 16-0 when out-rebounding an opponent ... SDSU topped 80 points for the fifth time against a Summit League opponent this season ... the Jackrabbits held a 31-11 advantage in bench points ... two other times SDSU has begun the season with a 21-2 record: 1995-96 and the 2002-03 Division II national championship season ... attendance was 1,842
Courtesy: South Dakota State University
