INDIANAPOLIS – The frontcourt tandem of Maria Boever and Jennifer Warkenthien combined for 37 points, leading nationally ranked South Dakota State to a 64-48 victory over IUPUI in Summit League women’s basketball action Monday night.
In extending their winning streak to nine games, the Jackrabbits improved to 23-2 overall, 12-1 in The Summit League. SDSU entered the game ranked 20th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll and 23rd in the Associated Press poll.
IUPUI evened its overall record at 12-12 and dropped to 7-6 in league play.
The Jackrabbits led wire to wire, jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the opening minutes after three-pointers by Warkenthien and Alison Anderson. In one stretch during the first half, Warkenthien scored 11 consecutive Jackrabbit points en route to 16 in the opening 20 minutes. Her spurt was part of a run in which SDSU built a 27-15 lead.
IUPUI countered with a 9-2 run to pull to within 29-24 at the 4:41 mark, but Warkenthien stemmed the tide with her third three-pointer of the half. The Jackrabbits led 36-29 at halftime..
The Jaguars got out of the gates early in the second half to pull to within a basket on two occasions, the last at 38-36 on a Janna Eichelberger jumper with 17:06 remaining in the game. Macie Michelson answered with a three-pointer and Boever scored on a putback to keep the Jackrabbits in the lead.
IUPUI got back to within three, 43-40, moments later, but SDSU strung together a 14-2 run over a five-minute span to put the game out of reach. Boever scored five of her game-high 19 points in the run.
Warkenthien, who ended the game with 18 points, added a team-high nine rebounds. Kristin Rotert added 10 points for the Jackrabbits, while starting point guard Macie Michelson contributed nine points, six rebounds and three assists.
SDSU finished the game 24-of-56 from the field, 42.9 percent, including 8-of-27 from three-point range. The Jackrabbits converted 8-of-9 free throw attempts, 88.9 percent.
The Jaguars were led by Julia Whitted with 14 points, with Eichelberger collecting 11 points and nine rebounds as IUPUI held a 39-31 advantage on the boards.
IUPUI was limited to 33.3 percent shooting, 17-of-51, and did not make any of its nine three-point tries. At the line, the Jaguars were 14-of-23, 60.9 percent.
The Jackrabbits close out the home portion of their schedule with a Presidents Day weekend homestand. SDSU will take on UMKC at 5 p.m. Saturday in the annual Corduroy Classic, honoring FFA. The home slate concludes Feb. 16 with a 7 p.m. matchup against Southern Utah. Both games will be played at Frost Arena.
NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series 4-0 ... the Jackrabbits upped their record in Summit League games to 28-3 ... Warkenthien upped her career scoring total to 1,203 points as she reached double figures for the 19th time this season ... Michelson’s six rebounds were a career high ... Boever tallied double digits for the first time in seven games ... for only the second time all season, SDSU reserves did not combine to score in double figures, although the Jackrabbits held an 8-3 advantage in bench points ... in sweeping the road trip at Western Illinois and IUPUI, the Jackrabbits surrendered an average of 39.5 points per game and limited their opponents to a combined 29-of-97 (29.9 percent) from the field, including 2-of-19 from three-point range ... SDSU is 19-1 this season when leading at the half ... attendance was listed at 347
Courtesy: South Dakota State University
