BROOKINGS, S.D. - The South Dakota State women's basketball team pulled away from Northern Iowa Friday night for a 76-54 win over the Panthers at First Bank & Trust Arena.
The Jackrabbits had three players in double figures, knocked down 10 3-pointers as a team and notched 21 assists.
Brooklyn Meyer paced SDSU with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Katie Vasecka had a season-high 13 points - her most since January - plus three 3-pointers, four rebounds and two assists. Freshman
Audrey Shindelar put up 10 points and had three boards.
SDSU led nearly wire-to-wire and used an 8-0 run in the opening quarter to lead for good. Vasecka, Meyer and
Emilee Fox contributed a basket each in the stretch. A six-point stretch with points from Shindelar and
Mahli Abdouch had the Jacks up 20-9 with two minutes to play in the opening frame.
UNI worked back during the second quarter to make it a three-point game at 27-24, but another Jackrabbit run pushed the Jacks ahead and SDSU led 36-26 at halftime.
The sides went back-and-forth during the third, but the Jacks scored 10 straight points to start the fourth and put the game away. Meyer, Shindelar, Vasecka, Fox and
Claire Sheppard all put points on the board during the run.
Abdouch added nine points and five assists for the Jackrabbits, followed by Fox with nine points and a career-high seven assists.
Hadley Thul contributed seven points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
SDSU finished the game 51% from the field and 42% from the 3-point line. The Jackrabbit defense held the Panthers to just 33% shooting and had six blocks as a team.
Both teams move to 1-1 on the season.
NOTES
- SDSU improves to 15-5 all-time against UNI and has won five straight meetings.
- Emilee Fox's previous career high for assists was six, which she had notched four times.
UP NEXT
South Dakota State travels to take on No. 6 Texas Wednesday night in Austin. It will be the third time the Jackrabbits and the Longhorns meet in the last three seasons.
-GoJacks.com-