SDSU women bounce back with first win of the season

BROOKINGS – After losing on a buzzer beater to Creighton on Monday, the South Dakota State women bounced back on Friday night with a 76-54 win over Northern Iowa.

“Good win for us,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Jonhnston. “I thought our last couple of days of preparation were just really good. You know, you have a tough loss on Monday in a game that I thought we let get away and just could have finished. You wonder how the team will respond, but I thought they were really good in our two days of prep.”

SDSU led 12-4 just under three minutes into the game. The Panthers would cut the lead to 14-9 but the Jacks then scored six-straight to push the lead to double digits. They eventually led 22-15 at the end of the first quarter.

It was a slow start to the second quarter for SDSU as UNI was able to cut the lead to 27-24 with 4:15 to play in the first half. The Jacks responded with a 9-2 run to end the half and took a 36-26 lead into halftime.

Brooklyn Meyer was 7-of-8 from the field in the first half and had 16 points. She finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Johnston said they didn’t go to Meyer on purpose in the first half, but it’s nice when they give her single coverage to start the game.

“I don’t know that we came out and said we need to go to Brooklyn. We certainly talked about how we can be more balanced offensively the last couple days, and Brooklyn is absolutely part of that. … When you can finish some possessions with Brooklyn rolling or get to her post ups, that’s a good thing because she does a great job,” Johnston said.

It was a slow start to the second half for both teams but the Jacks led 45-31 with 4:23 to go in the third quarter. The Panthers then cut it to 48-40 but lay ups from Mahli Abdouch and Hadley Thul gave the Jacks a 52-40 lead going into the fourth.

SDSU opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run and that put the game away. Katie Vasecka, who finished the game with 13 points, said SDSU pushed the pace to start the final frame.

“I think we just came out with a much better pace [to start the fourth]. We were running up and down the court. We were just finding each other and that faster pace really helped us pull away,” Vasecka said.

The Jacks held the Panthers to 33% shooting on the night. Johnston said his team was much more attentive on Friday.

“We just didn’t have any lapses,” Johnston said. “Northern Iowa is very good offensively. They have multiple people that make shots, and you saw that in the first quarter. … I thought our team was really engaged in playing, and really knew what was coming, and just stayed focused. In our last game, there were just so many lapses. … In this game, I thought you really saw great awareness, and then we rebounded.”

True freshman Audrey Shindelar had 10 points. She’s now scored 25 points in her first two collegiate games and she said that her teammates have helped her acclimate to the college game.

“It’s been great. Just playing with this team, it’s a lot of fun. … I think I’ve just been comfortable with my teammates [and that’s where my confidence] really comes from. They trust me, and I trust them, and we’ve really grown in our relationships these past couple months,” Shindelar said.

SDSU shot 53.3% from the field. After shooting 46% in their loss on Monday, Johnston said he thought his team was more connected on Friday night.

“There was just a little bit better spacing. I thought our pace down the floor was a little bit better so that created some easier shots at times. I thought the last game everything was always starting with dribble penetration. We started with more passes [tonight] and finished possessions with penetration or post touches, which is good,” Johnston said.

Things won’t get easier for the Jacks as they will play at No. 6 Texas this upcoming Wednesday and host No. 22 Oklahoma State next Sunday. Johnston said his team is excited to take on two ranked teams and they always have the mindset that they want to give it their all.

“The run of games in terms of competition is through the roof,” Johnston said. “… Our mindset’s going to [be] to go down [to Texas] and try and figure out a way to play our best basketball. That’s what it always is when we play these teams. 

“We’re excited about it and we’re excited that Texas is willing to come back [to Brookings] again next year. We’re excited to have Oklahoma State come [here]. That’s going to be a great game with some of the best players in the country playing in it.”