OMAHA, Neb. – Marissa Preston hit a three-pointer with one second left in the game to help the Omaha women's basketball team stun South Dakota State, 83-82, Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena. With their first win over the Jackrabbits since the transition to Division I, the Mavericks move to 11-11 (4-5 Summit League). South Dakota State drops to 16-5 (7-2 Summit League).
Senior forward Michaela Dapprich led the Mavericks in scoring, finishing with a team-high 17-points on 8-of-16 from the field. Dapprich added four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
Preston, making her first start of the season, added a season-best 15 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field with five three-pointers. Along the way she tied a career-high by dishing out five assists.
Junior guard Remy Davenport had 13 points, four rebounds, a steal and an assist. Sophomore guard Ellie Brecht contributed 11 points, including three treys, while senior forward Mikaela Shaw chipped in 10 points, nine boards, six assists and two blocks.
Ellie Thompson led four double-digit scorers for South Dakota State, finishing with a game-high 23 points. Meanwhile, Madison Guebert has 21 points including five three-pointers. Clarissa Ober and Kerri Young each had 16 points with Ober grabbing nine rebounds.
Omaha outshot South Dakota State .475 (29-of-61) to .424 (28-of-66) from the floor. The Mavericks were efficient from long range, connecting on a program-record 16 three-pointers compared to just seven from the Jackrabbits. UNO also hit .900 (9-of-10) from the free throw line while SDSU converted .826 (19-of-23). South Dakota State held a 38-31 advantage in rebounding, but Omaha led in assists, 24-19.
South Dakota State jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the game. Shaw scored the next seven points to put Omaha up three with 4:02 left in the first quarter. Consecutive treys from Brecht pushed the Mavericks' lead to 17-11. SDSU tightened the game by outscoring UNO 6-2 to close out the quarter, 19-17.
Omaha stretched its lead to 29-19 with 6:22 left in the half on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Amber Vidal. South Dakota State clamped down on defense, holding Omaha scoreless for the next 3:44, and cut the lead to two points after a Thompson basket. Refusing to be denied, Preston kick-started an 8-4 run with a trey that sent the Mavericks to halftime up 40-31.
UNO took its largest lead of the game early in the third quarter at 45-33 after a basket from Dapprich and a trey from Davenport. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the half as Omaha took a 63-57 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Jackrabbits continued to chip away in the opening moments of the fourth, finally reclaiming the lead at 67-66 with 5:42 remaining on a layup from Ober and a three-pointer from Young. SDSU stretched its lead to four points on another three-pointer, this time from Guebert. Moments later, Omaha showed its resiliency with treys from Davenport and Lujan to tie the game at 74-all with 3:24 left.
South Dakota State reclaimed the lead with four quick points, but Preston answered with a three-ball to make it 78-77 (1:54). After the two teams traded free throws, SDSU's Ober put the Jackrabbits up 81-78 with just 21 seconds left.
The Mavericks' Davenport converted a driving layup with nine seconds left on the clock to pull Omaha within a point at 81-80. The Mavericks then fouled Young who hit her first free throw but missed her second. Shaw grabbed the rebound and set the stage for Preston's shot from just outside the arc. Her shot banked off the glass to give Omaha the 83-82 win.
Omaha returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 2, visiting IUPUI. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT at The Jungle in Indianapolis, Ind., and Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2 and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
