OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha Women's Basketball team turned in a strong defensive first half before Summit League preseason favorite South Dakota State pulled away in the second half for a 65-36 win Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena.
Omaha (2-15, 0-2 Summit League) held the Jackrabbits (12-4, 2-0) to 26 first-half points and trailed by seven at the break.
Sophomore
Daria Shelby (Canton, Mich.) was the lone Maverick in double figures with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals. It was the second time this season that Shelby scored in double figures.
But for Omaha, the first half was all about its defense.
Omaha recorded six steals in the first seven minutes. That helped the Mavs take a 10-4 lead with 4:40 left in the first period following a steal and layup by graduate
Sarai Estupiñan (Cedar Park, Texas).
The game was tied 13-13 after one quarter and Omaha regained the lead at 16-15 when Shelby hit a 3-pointer with 8:40 left in the half.
SDSU would lead 26-19 at halftime, but Omaha had fewer turnovers (10-9), was tied in the rebounding department (22-22) and held the Jackrabbits to 33 percent shooting at the break.
"They were really dialed into the defensive game plan in the first half," Omaha head coach
Jamie Carey said. "I was happy about that in the first half. We came out and competed hard."
SDSU's first double-digit lead came four minutes into the second half as the Jackrabbits built the margin from there.
SDSU held Omaha to 24.6 percent shooting from the field, including 4 of 32 on 3-pointers.
"South Dakota State is really good. They're long and when you play against length sometimes that alters shots," Carey said. "But a lot of (those attempts) were open and we left them short. We need to make those."
Freshman
Leekaya Burke Perryman (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added seven points and three steals for Omaha, while junior
Ali Stephens (Fort Wayne, Ind.) had five points and a team-best seven rebounds.
Omaha will be on the road next week as it plays at North Dakota on Thursday and North Dakota State on Satruday.
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