BROOKINGS, S.D. - The Omaha women's basketball team forced South Dakota State to rally from a halftime deficit on its home court for the first time in more than a year, but the Jackrabbits did that with a late 12-4 run to end the game in a 71-60 win in front of 1,739 fans at Frost Arena on Thursday night.
The Mavericks fell to 9-14 overall and 1-8 in Summit League play. The five-time defending league-champion Jackrabbits improved to 18-8 and 9-1 in the Summit League.
SDSU moved to 12-0 at home this season and won its 15th in a row at home, but the Mavericks put together a performance that made the Jackrabbits earn the win in the final minutes. Behind a career-high 30 points from Ericka House and Taijhe Kelly's 16 points, 12 rebounds and school-record eight blocked shots, the Mavericks put a scare into SDSU by taking a 34-30 halftime lead. The last time the Jackrabbits trailed at Frost Arena was Jan. 19, 2013 against IUPUI, also the date of their last home loss.
However, SDSU's depth took over in the final minutes. With the Mavs trailing 59-52, Kelly and Bough scored buckets to close the gap to 59-56 with 3:30 left. But after UNO misfired on two shots to get closer, Steph Paluch hit a back-breaking shot clock buzzer beater for a 61-56 SDSU lead with 2:19 left. A UNO turnover then led to a fastbreak layup 20 seconds later, sparking a 12-4 SDSU run to finish the game.
Omaha fell behind 8-2 early but stormed back with a 10-0 run to take a 12-8 lead at the 13:50 mark, sparked by eight points by House off the bench on two 3-pointers and a jumper in the paint. SDSU answered back to grab a 13-12 lead, but House scored her fourth bucket in a row for the Mavs for a 14-13 lead, and after Paluch briefly gave the Jacks the lead again, Felicia Anderson drilled back-to-back 3s from the same spot to give UNO a 20-15 lead with 10:32 to play.
Maverick turnovers contributed to SDSU regaining the lead with a 7-0 run, but House answered with her third trey of the half to give the Mavs a 23-22 advantage with 6:46 left. SDSU built the lead back up to 28-23 before House and Kelly hit consecutive buckets to get within 28-27. After SDSU went up 30-27 with 4:28 left in the half, the Mavs shut down the Jacks for the rest of the half and went on a 7-0 spurt to take a 34-30 halftime lead. The Jacks had led at the half 14 straight games at home.
Kelly came out with consecutive buckets after halftime as the Mavs claimed a 38-32 lead. But the Jackrabbits used five offensive rebounds in the first four minutes of the half to spur an 8-0 run for a 40-38 lead by the first media timeout. House tied it up briefly, but SDSU scored the next six for a 46-40 lead. Trailing 48-42, the Mavs found Kelly on the baseline for two layups in a row to get within 48-46.
The Jackrabbits pushed out to a 59-52 lead with 4:38 left, but the Mavericks dug deep as Kelly scored and then House set her career high to pull UNO within 59-56 with 3:30 to go.
SDSU posted a season-high 23 offensive rebounds to fuel its comeback. The Mavs shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the field and 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range. House was 4-of-8. The Jacks were 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor and 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from long distance. The lead changed hands 10 times in the game.
In addition to House and Kelly's career nights, Anderson had seven points, while Madi Robson had six assists. Lanese Bough had a career-high six steals.
The Mavs continue their road trip at North Dakota State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
