OMAHA, Neb. - Behind
Taijhe Kelly's career-high 24 points, eight blocks and seven rebounds, the Omaha women's basketball team upset South Dakota, 69-61, on Thursday night at the Sapp Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks improved to 11-14 overall and 3-8 in Summit League play with their second straight league win. South Dakota dropped to 14-12 overall and 5-6 in league play. The Coyotes came in having won three in a row and five of their last six and were in third place in the league standings. UNO was 0-4 against South Dakota since the Mavs' transition to Division I in 2011. The most recent setback was 75-51 in Vermillion on Jan. 25 in a game which the Coyotes jumped out to a 42-16 lead by halftime.
But the story was completely different this time around. The Mavs went on a 13-0 run early in the game to sprint to a 17-5 lead, capped by a 3-pointer from
Felicia Anderson at the 11:34 mark. The Mavs held the Coyotes without a field goal for 7:10 to build the double-digit lead. Anderson's second 3-pointer of the half gave UNO a 17-point lead, 35-18, with 4:01 left in the half. The Mavs had a 40-27 cushion at the halftime break, the first time UNO had scored 40 in the first half this season. Kelly was a big reason for the lead, recording 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the half.
After halftime, South Dakota slowly chipped away at the Mavs' lead. With UNO ahead 51-41 with 10:09 remaining, Polly Harrington hit two free throws, and a UNO turnover led to a jumper in the paint by Lisa Loeffler to pull USD within 51-45. After
Ericka House hit two free throws, Nicole Seekamp hit three 3-pointers in a span of 2:09 to give the Coyotes a 54-53 lead with 6:25 left.
The teams traded leads multiple times over the next couple minutes, and USD went up 58-57 on a Seekamp basket with 3:36 to go. But freshman
Mikaela Shaw took over from there. Shaw scored the go-ahead basket with 3:22 left on a jumper from the free throw arc. Shaw then stole the ball from Seekamp on the wing at the other end, and on the ensuing possession drove for a layup with 2:42 left to give the Mavs a 61-58 lead. After the Mavs made two defensive stops on one possession, Shaw hit a free throw to make it 62-58 with 1:46 left.
UNO again held South Dakota scoreless on its next trip down the court, and
Madi Robson picked a perfect time to hit her only field goal of the game, sinking a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:10 left to give Omaha a 65-58 lead. The Mavs held off USD the rest of the way.
Kelly went 11-of-16 from the floor to surpass her previous career-high of 16 points, which she set last Thursday at South Dakota State. Shaw had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. House had 10 points and six rebounds.
Lanese Bough had six points, five assists, four rebounds and no turnovers in 34 minutes.
The Mavs shot 50.9 percent (28-of-55) and went 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) from 3-point range. South Dakota shot 34.7 percent (25-of-72) overall and 6-of-20 (30.0 percent) from long distance.
The Mavs finish out their home schedule on Saturday against Denver at 1 p.m. The Mavs will honor their lone senior, House, before the game.
