BROOKINGS, South Dakota – Junior Mikaela Shaw scored career point No. 1,000 but the Omaha women's basketball team could not complete a late comeback against South Dakota State falling, 68-58, Thursday night at Frost Arena in Brookings.
The Mavericks trimmed a 20-point second-half deficit down to just 10 points late in the game, but ran out of time as the Jackrabbits earned the hard-fought Summit League victory.
Omaha dropped to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in Summit League play. South Dakota State improved to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Shaw finished with a team-best 21 points, her jumper with 2:38 remaining in the game pushed her career total from 999 to 1,001 to become the 26th player to score over 1,000 career points at UNO. She also pulled down a game-best nine rebounds. Earlier this season, Shaw also grabbed her 500th career rebound against SIUE and is now just the 18th player in program history to tally the 1,000-point/500-rebound totals.
Freshmen Ellie Brecht and Caroline Hogue each were in double-figures for the Mavericks. Brecht had 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor, including three 3-pointers. Hogue added 13 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots.
The Jackrabbits were led by the duo of Madison Guebert and Clarissa Ober. Guebert scored a game-high 23 points including a 7-for 12 effort from the floor with six 3-pointers. Ober added 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting with eight rebounds.
Omaha took an early 7-2 lead on a 3-pointer from Hogue and two Shaw jumpers. South Dakota State took its first lead of the game with 41 seconds left in the first quarter on a pair of Macy Miller free throws, 15-14. Brecht hit one of two free throws with 17 seconds left to tie things up, 15-15.
SDSU increased its lead to four points, 19-15, early in the second quarter. Shaw cut the Jackrabbits lead to one point with a jumper and a free throw with 5:36 left in the half. South Dakota State held Omaha scoreless the rest of the quarter as it increased its lead to 28-18 at halftime.
Omaha's cold streak continued until Amber Vidal drained a 3-pointer 3:33 into the third quarter. The two teams exchanged three point buckets as Omaha cut the lead to 11 points, 35-24. The Jackrabbits closed the quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 45-28 lead after three quarters.
SDSU increased its lead to as many as 20 points with 7:25 left in regulation, 55-35. Then the Mavericks caught fire. Kalen Phillips scored four quick points to spark UNO. Hogue was fouled as she hit a shot in the paint and then converted the bonus free throw. After a missed shot by the Jackrabbits, Remy Davenport set up Mikaela Shaw for a 3-pointer. Hogue would drain her second trey of the game off an assist from Davenport to cut the lead to 11 points with 3:22 left in regulation, 59-48.
It looked as if South Dakota State would put the game out of reach as it went on a 9-2 run late in the game. Shaw's 1,000th point started another Omaha comeback attempt. A pair of trey's and a jumper from Brecht helped the Mavericks cut the lead to 10 points. The clock was on SDSU's side and UNO ran out of time before it could complete the comeback.
Omaha shot 40 percent from the field (22-55) and South Dakota State shot 40.3 percent (27-67). UNO was 47.1 percent from long range (8-17), while SDSU was 33.3 percent (7-21). The difference came at the free throw line where the Jackrabbits hit 87.5 percent (7-8) compared to 50 percent for the Mavs (6-12).
It's a quick turnaround for Omaha, finishing the weekend in Vermillion against the University of South Dakota in the Dakota Dome on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 1:30 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Midco. Jon Green will also have the radio call on 1180 AM Zone 2.
