OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team lost to South Dakota State on Wednesday evening at Sapp Fieldhouse, 60-49. The Mavericks are now 8-18 overall and 3-11 in Summit League play. SDSU improved to 18-8 overall and 9-4 in league play.
Senior center Taijhe Kelly broke the school record of 291 career blocked shots set previously by Maverick Hall of Famer Mary Henke Anderson. Kelly blocked three shots on the night and has 293 blocks in her career. Kelly scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds before fouling out late in the game.
Mikaela Shaw led all scorers with her sixth double-double of the season. Shaw had 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She was 8-of-19 from the floor and 2-of-3 from the free throw line.
Madi Robson added nine points, four assists, and three rebounds. Lanese Bough scored eight points, while Remy Davenport chipped in six.
South Dakota State had two players in double digits. Megan Waytashek had a team high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. Macy Miller added 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor, including a 7-of-8 effort at the free throw line.
Omaha jumped out to a 7-5 lead after the first 3:46 on a lay-up and a made free throw from Shaw. South Dakota State countered with an 11-5 run to take a 16-12 lead with 10:47 remaining in the first half.
Shaw scored seven straight points for Omaha over a 1:28 span to put the Mavs up 24-21 with 7:29 left in the half. South Dakota State ended the half on a 13-3 run to take a 34-27 lead at the intermission.
The Jackrabbits increased the lead to 14 points at 41-27 early in the second half on a jumper by Miller. The Mavericks answered with quick buckets from Robson and Bough to cut the lead to 41-31 with 16:37 remaining in the game.
Omaha fell behind 52-36 with 9:09 remaining on a lay-up from Waytashek. A Remy Davenport 3-pointer sparked a 9-0 run to cut the SDSU lead to seven points at 52-45 with 3:56 left in the game.
South Dakota State regrouped and pushed the lead back to double digits, 55-45, on a pair of Miller free throws. UNO made one last push to close the gap in the final two minutes.
Shaw put back a missed shot to cut the lead to eight points with 2:09 left in the game. Following a Jackrabbit foul, Bobbi Beckwith sank a pair of free throws to draw the Mavs within six points at 55-49 with 1:04 left in the game. After a South Dakota State timeout, the Jackrabbits closed the game on a 5-0 run to secure the win, 60-49.
Omaha shot 38.0 percent (19-of-50) from the floor, but converted only 23.1 percent (3-of-13) of its 3-point shots. The Mavs hit 72.7 percent (8-of-11) of their free throws. South Dakota State was held to 32.3 percent (21-of-65) shooting from the floor and only 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from deep. The Jackrabbits converted 72.2 percent (13-of-18) of its free throws.
Omaha will host Fort Wayne at Sapp Fieldhouse on Thursday, Feb. 26. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Thursday night's game will be the Mavericks "Pink" game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and pink wrist bands will be handed out to the fans. Jon Green will have the radio call of the game on "The Mighty" 1290 AM KOIL. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
