SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Omaha women's basketball team's season came to a close on Tuesday as they fell to South Dakota State 93-51 in the Summit League Tournament Finals.
After being picked to finish last in the league in the official preseason poll, the Mavericks overcame countless obstacles and pulled off miraculous win after miraculous win to reach the championship game and erase all doubts.
Leaders For Omaha
For the first time this season,
Katie Keitges was Omaha's leading scorer as she put up a season-high 11 points on the back of her second ever game with three 3-PT FGs, all of which came in the final quarter.
In her final career game with the Mavericks,
Elena Pilakouta did what she has done dozens of times and led the team in rebounds with five. She also scored six points today. After five seasons with the Mavericks, Pilakouta officially ends her career as just the 14
th Maverick to ever cross the 1,200-point mark with 1,201. Likewise, her 190 offensive rebounds are the seventh most in program history, and her 462 defensive boards slot her in at fifth all-time.
For her efforts throughout the tournament, including double-doubles in the first two games, Pilakouta was named to the All-Tournament team for the first time in her career.
Leaders for South Dakota State
Haleigh Timmer led all players today with 18 points, going 4-for-4 on three-pointers. Four different Jackrabbits were tied for the team-lead in rebounds with five, including Paige Meyer who also led the team with four assists.
Team Stats
The Jackrabbits bested Omaha in FG% at 62.0% to 34.0%, and 3-PT FG% at 68.4% to 35.3%. The Mavericks did, however, hold the edge in FT%, shooting 90.0% vs. 75.0% for SDSU.
Inside the First Quarter
From the get-go, the Mavericks struggled to find a rhythm on offense, finally getting their first points at 7:20 on a
Grace Cave jumper.
Polina Nikulochkina would drain a couple of threes to get Omaha within three points of the Jackrabbits at 8-11 with four minutes left to play, but that would be all the Mavericks would get in the first as SDSU closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run.
Inside the Second Quarter
SDSU carried its scoring run into the second as they turned it into 15 unanswered points, only seeing its streak end on the first bucket of the day for Pilakouta at 7:44. Four
Aaliyah Stanley free throws and a layup from Keitges would be all the offense Omaha got in the remainder of the period as the Jackrabbits pulled away to a 44-16 lead by the end of the half.
Inside the Third Quarter
Omaha got off to a much stronger start in the second half, outscoring SDSU 10-9 through the first five minutes.
Kennedi Grant kicked things off with an early steal to set up Pilakouta for a layup 30 seconds in.
Despite the increased offensive production, courtesy of baskets from Stanley, Grant, and Cave, the Mavericks could not close the gap on the Jackrabbits, as SDSU outscored Omaha 11-6 through the end of the quarter.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
The Mavericks had another decent period on offense thanks to an incredible effort from Keitges who sank three shots from behind the arc to go 3-for-3 in the quarter. In the end, however, SDSU's potent offense remained consistent throughout the quarter as they went on to close the game out and claim the Summit League title.
