OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha women's basketball team couldn't quite overcome an 11-point deficit to start the game, as South Dakota State grabbed an 80-66 win over the Mavericks at the Sapp Fieldhouse on Saturday.

The Mavs (9-8, 1-2 Summit) had good balance offensively: 13 points from Ericka House, 12 from Mikaela Shaw and 11 by Taijhe Kelly (all in the second half) to lead six Mavericks who scored eight or more points.

Steph Paluch scored 21 and hit 5-of-9 from long distance to pace the Jackrabbits (13-7, 4-0 Summit).

SDSU, winners of the Summit League five years in a row and the preseason favorite again this year, bolted out to an 11-0 lead by the first media timeout at 14:56. In the first 5:13 of the game, the Mavs went 0-for-6 from the field, 0-for-2 from the free throw line and had two turnovers to fall into the 11-0 hole.

But after that, Omaha went toe-to-toe with the class of the Summit League. The Mavs got a layup from Victoria Trowbridge and two free throws by House to get within 11-4, and after the Jacks got a three-point play from Clarissa Ober, UNO recorded a 9-1 run to get within two, 15-13, with 8:47 left in the half. Lanese Bough and Shaw each had layups, House hit a 3-pointer, and Trowbridge drained two free throws to get the Mavs right back into the game.

A basket by Kerri Young with 8:25 left gave SDSU a 17-13 lead and was the only field goal by the Jackrabbits in a span of 7:19, as the Mavericks picked up their defensive intensity. SDSU gradually pushed the lead back to 11, but Felicia Anderson knocked down a 3-pointer just before halftime to get the Mavs within eight, 34-26.

In the second half, both teams found their rhythm offensively, combining for 86 points after just 60 in the first half. Both teams shot over 50 percent in the final 20 minutes, but the difference was SDSU's 7-of-14 from 3-point range opposed to UNO's 2-of-10 from behind the arc.

Mariah Clarin opened the half with a layup, but Madi Robson scored five quick points surrounding a jumper by SDSU's Hannah Strop. House then hit two mid-range jumpers to pull the Mavs within three, 38-35, with 17:23 remaining. Just as the Mavs had momentum, Strop hit a triple just eight seconds later, and a UNO turnover and an SDSU offensive rebound following a missed jumper allowed Ober to score an easy layup for a 43-35 lead.

The Jackrabbits looked like they were about to finish it off when they went up 53-39 with 12:42 left, but following a Maverick timeout, UNO got a 3-pointer from Anderson and a layup by Kelly to cut it to 53-44. With 8:59 left, Anderson hit another trey to make it 59-52 SDSU, and the Mavs couldn't connect on two free throws that could have cut it to five. SDSU scored the next six points of the game to go up 65-52 with 6:53 left.

Again, Omaha found a way, as the Mavs attacked the rim and got a jumper by Bough and two free throws apiece by House and Kelly to trim the deficit to seven again, 65-58, with 5:35 to play. But the Mavs misfired and turned it over on their next two possessions, while SDSU went on a 5-0 spurt to go up 70-58 with 4:34 left. The Mavs made one last push late, cutting the deficit to 74-66 with 2:23 remaining on a Kelly jumper that she was also fouled on. Her free throw rimmed away, and the Mavs then missed a layup in transition that could have dented the lead with just under two minutes left, and the Jacks got a 3-pointer by Paluch in transition with 1:30 left to go up 11. Paluch added another late 3-pointer to seal the win for SDSU.

The Jacks outshot UNO 44.6 percent (29-of-65) to 44.2 percent (23-of-52). SDSU finished 8-of-30 from 3-point range (30.8 percent). After starting the game 1-of-14 from long range, the Jackrabbits went 7-of-16 to close it out. Omaha hit just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from 3-point range and struggled from the free throw line, shooting 16-of-25 (64.0 percent). The Mavs entered the game shooting 72.4 percent from the stripe. UNO found success by getting the ball into the post and attacking the rim, as the outside shots weren't falling. Kelly, Trowbridge and Shaw combined for 31 points, and the Mavs' 25 trips to the free throw line were the most by a UNO team in 19 all-time Summit League games.

The Mavericks are on the road in the league for the first time next week when they play at Denver on Thursday and at South Dakota next Saturday.