Hanging a hundred … and then some

To say that the Oral Roberts women got off to a good start would be selling their effort short.

The Golden Eagles opened up their appearance in Sioux Falls by scoring 18 of the game’s first 19 points, on the way a 108-79 win over Western Illinois in the Saturday’s first round action. The mark sets a new women’s record for points in a tournament game.

“I was really happy with how our girls came out and forced the tempo. We really pushed the ball and played with reckless abandon on the defensive end,” Oral Roberts head coach Jerry Finkbeiner said.

ORU found a liking to the three-point line as well, draining 12 longball attempts and helping themselves to a 60-32 halftime lead. ORU had some of their better players on the floor with under five minutes left but Finkbeiner said that’s the only way his team knows how to play.

“We don’t know how to play man-to-man defense and you can tell we don’t know how to play a 2-3 zone. I want to be respectful of the game but the same time we’re trying to iron some things out that were pretty traumatic two-and-a-half weeks ago. That’s just who we are. I wish we could press for 40 minutes and we pulled that off with 15 minutes to go, so I don’t know what else we can do.

“The way they are playing right now, I don’t see anyone who can beat them,” WIU head coach Leslie Crane.

When asked if she took exception to ORU’s style of play, Crane answered with a simple and short answer: “No.”

Bigham Plays

Make of it what you want, but ORU’s Jaci Bigham was in at the end of Saturday’s first round game.

Bigham hurt her right knee three weeks ago at Southern Utah and was thought to be out for the season. However, Golden Eagles head coach Jerry Finkbeiner never ruled her out. She officially recorded two minutes, a turnover and a missed shot.

“She’s part of our team. Just having her on the court is a positive for us,” said ORU guard Priscila Cergol, who has filled in since Bigham went out. Cergol had 20 points in the win.

What Break?

Apparently, enough was enough.

The seventh-seeded UMKC Kangaroos had IPFW on the ropes for much of the first half until a 14-0 of run put the Mastodons ahead for good in a 68-53 win during Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The Mastodons strung together 14 straight points before Eilise O’Connor drained a jumper at the end of the first half. IPFW went from being down 24-19 with 5:36 left, to building a seven-point advantage at halftime, 33-26.

“It was huge. Our goal is always to take a lead to halftime because mentally there’s something about having a lead after 20 minutes. It was just crucial to have that advantage at halftime,” said IPFW head coach Chris Paul.

It was probably a good idea for IPFW to jump in front before intermission because the Mastodons are 18-2 this season when leading at halftime. On the other hand, UMKC finishes the season with a 0-16 record when trailing at the break.

Saturday’s win marks IPFW’s first trip to the Summit League Tourney semifinals in school history.

If the idea of playing basketball well is a puzzle, the Jackrabbits might be putting it all together.

SDSU (16-13, 12-6) never trailed against rival North Dakota State (13-15, 9-9) in tallying their fifth win in a row, this time by a 64-51 score at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo, N.D. on Feb. 26.

It marks eight wins in the last nine games for the Jacks and crowd favorite at the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls. Statistically, they will also go in as the hottest team in the conference.

“I think it can help you without any doubt. But it’s still such a different event and the pressure is so much more different than the regular season. The pressure is not too much but when you’re facing the idea that this game could be your last, it changes how you approach a shot or a free throw,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston in his postgame press conference..

The Jackrabbits backcourt triumvirate of Kristin Rotert, Jill Young, and Macie Michelson combined for 42 of the 64 Jacks points and helped SDSU control the game from the start. The Jacks only held a six point lead at halftime but shot 65 percent in the second half to stretch the advantage to as much as 18 points with eight minutes left.

“That’s what you need. Tonight, we shortened our rotation, not intentionally going into the game, but I thought we were better with those three on the floor and that’s what you want from two seniors and a junior,” Johnston said.

In the December meeting at Frost Arena, NDSU’s guards carved up the Jackrabbit defense on the way to a surprising road win. However, in the season finale, the Bison struggled all night to stay with the Jackrabbits. NDSU was only able to muster 38 percent from the field for the night, watching another opportunity to beat SDSU at home for the first time since 2006 pass to no avail.

Like other Summit League teams, SDSU had trouble keeping standout guard Abby Plucker off the stat sheet, who paired 17 points with 16 rebounds. But outside of Janae Burich’s 16 point performance, the Bison couldn’t keep up with the Jacks.

“We defended really well. Tonight, we were so much more energetic, so much more aware and alert and communicated well. We didn’t give them a lot of easy shots. The shots they did get I thought we contested for the most part and were defended well,” Johnston said.

In addition to her 16 points, Rotert recorded her third double-double of her career with 10 rebounds and is the third SDSU player to have the honor in as many games.

“We’re really confident right now and playing well right now, offensively and defensively. We really believe in what we can do. We came together and we’ve really taken steps forward and think that shows,” Rotert said.

The women’s basketball teams at SDSU and Oral Roberts have been on different levels this season.

The two sides might be closer than we thought.

Jill Young put up 24 points to lead the Jacks and SDSU nailed a season-high 14 three-pointers but came up short in Tulsa, Okla., losing 82-75 to the Golden Eagles.

SDSU (11-13, 7-6) jumped out to 18-4 advantage after going on 15-0 run early in the first half, marked by nine points from Young.

ORU (17-7, 13-0) countered with an 13-0 run to give the Golden Eagles a lead with three minutes left in the half.

After Young tied the game with her seventh threepointer of the game at 52, ORU mounted a 12-2 run to gain their largest lead of the game with 14:04 left.

The Jacks finally made their run to tie the game with 5:52 left at 73 on a Hannah Strop layup. But the Jacks got cold late and the Golden Eagles scored six in a row, sealing the game at the free throw stripe, winning their 18th regular season Summit game in a row.

Each team had a trio of players lead their squad in scoring. Young and Kristin Rotert teamed up to score 24 and 22, respectively.

Katie Lingle continues her great second half this season, setting her second straight career-high with 16 points. ORU retaliated with Kevi Luper’s 26, Jordan Pyle’s 24, and 17 points from Jaci Bigham.

Without a doubt, the SDSU women’s basketball team has been inconsistent this season.

Jennie Sunnarborg hasn’t been lately.

On Jan. 31, the Jackrabbits worked their way to an 81-57 victory over UMKC, powered by a career-high 28 points from Sunnarborg.

The 6′ 2″ junior has been building to a game like this. Sunnarborg is averaging nearly 18 points per game in the last eight contests and has been the most steady scorer all season. She went 10 of 18 from the field and added five rebounds and four steals to her stat line for the night.

SDSU wasted no time putting the Kangaroos down, jumping out to a 21-3 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, including nine points in that span from Sunnarborg.

“My teammates definitely deserve the credit for everything. They find me when I’m open, and I’ll just knock down the shot when I get the opportunity to,” Sunnarborg said.

“Jennie has the ability to be a dominant offensive player in this league. She’s very good. There’s not many post players that are this athletic, versatile, or as talented as Jennie,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston.

Despite their fast start, SDSU (10-12, 6-5) lacked the ability to put UMKC (9-13, 4-7) away early, allowing them to hang around. The Kangaroos used a 13-4 run to open the second half, cutting the lead to as close as eight at 47-39 with 15 minutes left.

UMKC would be within nine with 12 minutes to go before the Jacks scored 26 of the next 34 points to close the victory out at home, moving the Jacks to an even 6-6 record at home on the season.

“We knew we could play a lot better than we had and we could play a lot harder than we had been playing. I think that really showed up this weekend for us,” Jill Young said.

Macie Michelson had 12 points and Young added 10 for SDSU. The weekend sweep marks the first time since the first week of the season that the Jacks have strung together back-to-back home wins and the team rebounded nicely from two overtime losses the week before.

“It’s definitely been character building for our team. Those losses definitely didn’t make or break our season but it definitely shows us where we’re at,” Sunnarborg said.

The win keeps the Jackrabbits in a tie for fourth place in the conference, along with NDSU at 6-5. A logjam of four teams shared that honor going into the night’s slate of games.

“We’re going to have to be much more consistent. We’ve had some good weekends in the past and we just haven’t followed them up with good weekends. You just need things to go your way,” Johnston said.

#1.1960139:1570070310.png:umkc-wbb-GALLAGHER.png:Macie Michelson drives past UMKC?s LeAndrea Thomas in the second half of the Jacks? victory on Jan. 31 at Frost Arena. Michelson scored 12 points in the league win.:Collegian Photo by Robby Gallagher

When it’s crunch time, teams go to players they can rely on. The SDSU women’s basketball team might finally have some suitors for that role.

In a season where points have not always been plentiful, the Jackrabbits saw their leading players carry the way on Jan. 29 against Southern Utah, leading to a 81-61 Pork Classic victory.

Jill Young, Kristin Rotert, and Jennie Sunnarborg combined for 60 points and the Jacks (9-12, 5-5) pulled away from the Thunderbirds (11-10, 5-5) in the second half, which hasn’t happened often. The win was only the second home conference win of the season.

Each of the Jacks’ double-figure scorers had a unique impact on the game. Young drilled a trio of first half three-pointers and finished the game with 18 points, off of five three-pointers. Rotert had a relatively quiet first half before coming up with 12 of her 19 points in the second half. Sunnarborg was the most consistent throughout the game, providing a game-high 23 points from the inside.

In the area that has proved to be the tipping point for the Jackrabbits this season – turnovers – SDSU only had 11, a mark that ties a season-low.

“We’re a pretty good team when we take care of the ball. We’ve had some issues with taking care of the ball and it’s really cost us. It’s something we’ve really got to do a better job on consistently because little turnovers can be what cost you the game,” Rotert said.

The Jacks cranked up the effort and no play showed that more than a terrific steal and save near the sideline in the second half by Steph Paluch, launching a pinpoint pass to Macie Michelson for the most impressive pair of points on the night.

“We like steals, we like defensive energy plays. Steph is a strong explosive player and that was important for us because Southern Utah was making a little bit of a run and that was a good energy play in our favor,” said SDSU women’s coach Aaron Johnston.

The play stretched the lead to 14 points with just over eight minutes to play and essentially ended any thoughts of a comeback for Southern Utah.

“I think we’ve got a really good group of upperclassmen but we haven’t played like it and ultimately the responsibility falls on our shoulders. We have to do a better job of setting the tone and getting our team going,” Rotert said.

Southern Utah standout Challis Pacucci scored 19 points and had 14 rebounds.

“It felt really great. This is really what we needed to kick start our team in the second half of the conference season and really build some momentum for going on the road next weekend,” Rotert said.

“It’s our time to step up and help carry this team.” Young said.

#1.1960137:3347586493.png:suu-wbb-TURNER.png:Katie Lingle defends a Southern Utah player in the first half of SDSU?s 81-61 win on Jan. 29:Collegian Photo by Andrew Turner

For the second night in a row, the Jackrabbit women dropped a close overtime affair.

Add free throw shooting to the long list of letdowns for the SDSU women’s basketball team this season.

The Jackrabbits – normally steadfast from the free throw line – shot 52 percent for the game and came up one point short after Steph Paluch’s runner from the lane wouldn’t fall and the Jackrabbits fell to Oakland in overtime 57-56 at Frost Arena on Jan. 24.

Bethany Watterworth’s free throw with five seconds left gave the Golden Grizzlies the clinching point, marking yet another close loss for SDSU.

“It’s unbelievably frustrating. I just don’t understand how we can just give games away to people. We let teams come into our home court, our arena and we just give them our games,” said Kristin Rotert.

The Jackrabbits got off to a less than thrilling start, falling behind 13-2 to the Golden Grizzlies and turning the ball over four times during that span. SDSU countered with an 8-0 run of their own to draw to within two. The remainder of the first half would stay close, with the Jacks taking the lead at 21-20, until Oakland ended the half with another 8-0 run and take a 28-21 advantage into the intermission.

The second half was marked by long scoring droughts including four periods of at least two minutes without a basket by either side. SDSU used all of the second half to inch back into the game and closed the gap to one with 21 seconds to go on a Jill Young three-pointer.

After Watterworth split a pair of free throws, Kristin Rotert was fouled away from the ball and sank both of her free throws to tie the game for the first time with seven seconds left. Blocks by Jennifer Schuttloffel and Jennie Sunnarborg respectively sent the game to overtime for the second game in a row for the Jackrabbits, at 51-51.

Macie Michelson opened the scoring in overtime with her only points of the game, a three pointer to give the Jacks their first lead since 3:51 in the first half. Oakland would score the next five points before Ashley Eide’s lay-up evened the game at 56 with over a minute to go.

Sunnarborg had a chance to put SDSU ahead but the normally strong free throw shooter missed both and Watterworth converted the final point of the game on the other end. SDSU missed all four of its free throws in the overtime period.

“It just comes down to making plays. We didn’t make lay-ups, we got fouled on the shots we had down low and they were good shots, we just have to execute those free throws,” said Schuttloffel.

Rotert recorded her second career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The loss marks SDSU’s sixth home loss of the season – the most in the DIvision I era.

“Losses feel like losses, whether you are at Frost or anywhere else,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston. “I don’t think the way we lost tonight, to me, feels any different than how we would have lost any of our other games. Ultimately, you still have the same feeling.”

#1.1918875:479301226.png:oakland2-wbb-GALLAGHER.png:Jennie Sunnarborg tries to shoot in traffic against the Oakland defense on Jan. 24 in a 57-56 Jackrabbit loss.:Collegian Photo by Robby Gallagher

Over and over again.

The inability to close out games has plagued the SDSU women’s basketball season all season and that weakness struck again on Jan. 22 as the Jackrabbits surrendered a late lead, allowing IPFW to escape Frost Arena with a 70-67 overtime victory.

The loss marks the fifth time where the Jackrabbits have lost a second-half lead in a defeat.

“It’s kinda the same old story. The last couple minutes of the game, we just kind of wither away and we don’t make plays, we don’t get defensive stops,” said SDSU’s Kristin Rotert.

This time, the Jacks held a five point lead with 3:23 left before the Mastodons rallied back, scoring seven in a row and took the lead with 36 seconds left on a Chelsey Jackson three pointer to make it 59-57. Rotert connected on a lob with Jennie Sunnarborg for a lay-in with 12 seconds left to tie the game at 59 and force the first extra session of the season for the Jacks.

Both sides traded baskets to open overtime but SDSU (8-11, 4-4) turned the ball over on three straight SDSU possessions and IPFW (12-5, 6-2) went six-of-six from the line late, never relinquishing the lead in overtime. Jordan Zuppe split a pair of free throws with eight seconds left, leaving the Jacks in a spot where they could tie the game but Steph Paluch’s last second heave went wide. The loss broke a six game winning streak in overtime games and SDSU lost their first conference home game since 1997.

“They just played well. We didn’t play well. They deserved to win,” Macie Michelson said.

SDSU started the first half strong leading by as much as eight in the first half with five minutes left in the half and IPFW head coach Chris Paul admitted that they were lucky it wasn’t worse. The Mastodons fought back and tied the game on a Kayla Drake three-pointer before halftime at 30.

IPFW stormed out of the break, scoring nine of the first 11 second-half points. The Mastodons stayed out in front until the Jackrabbits ran off eight points in a row, highlighted by Hannah Strop’s three-point bank shot to tie the game at 52 and Jill Young’s triple to give the Jacks their largest lead of the second half at 57-52.

“We just have to find a way to come out every night with the same kind of consistency and even if our offense isn’t playing like we want to, our defense should be able to keep us in the game,” Rotert said.

Drake led IPFW with a near triple-double with 27 points, 10 steals and eight rebounds, all career-highs.

Rotert and Macie Michelson paced the Jackrabbits with 15 points apiece. Jennie Sunnarborg added 14 points in the losing effort.

“We did somethings well defensively but for about 50 percent of the game we just didn’t anywhere close to the defensive intensity that we’ve been practicing with and seen,” Johnston said.

Despite the 42 percent from the field and 14-of-15 at the free throw stripe, SDSU turned the ball over 28 times in the Jackrabbits’ first loss ever to IPFW.

“Confidence comes from having success and we didn’t have enough success. They need to be able to win games to feel better,” Johnston said.

#1.1918881:886118999.png:wbb-ipfw-BRUA-006.png:Kristin Rotert goes for a shot against IPFW?s Jordan Zuppe in the Jackrabbits? 70-67 overtime loss.:Collegian Photo by Stephen Brua

Talk about stepping up when called upon.

When it comes to Jackrabbit sharpshooters, Jennifer Schuttloffel doesn’t top the list.

She’s hit seven threes in her career, but the senior picked a great time to break a 55-55 tie to put the Jacks in front for good, propelling SDSU to a 67-61 victory over IUPUI in Indianapolis, Jan. 15.

Schuttloffel drilled the triple – her only points of the game – with 2:57 left in the game and the Jackrabbits (7-10, 3-3) stepped up to hit seven of their last 10 free throws to seal the win.

“It was awesome. I didn’t play a whole lot today but I was wide open and I threw it up and hoped it went in,” an excited Schuttloffel said in the postgame radio interview.

The Jackrabbits built a 14-point lead in the first half and held an eight-point advantage over the Jaguars at halftime behind 16 of Kristin Rotert’s game-high 24 points.

IUPUI (3-13,1-5) used a 12-2 run to open the second half and the game would stay close until Jill Young landed a tie-breaking three with 4:45 left to put SDSU ahead 54-51.

IUPUI would even the game for a final time with 3:19 left before Schuttloffel’s big shot, helping to move SDSU to 8-0 all-time against the Jaguars.

“That’s what you want to see from a senior,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston.

#1.1898219:2525206306.png:wbb-GALLAGHER-3.png:Ashley Eide powers to the basket in a game against Iowa on Dec. 18.:Collegian Photo by Robby Gallagher

“Let’s play two.” Maybe not anymore.

The Summit League joint council approved a switch to mirror scheduling, which means that all men’s and women’s conference contests would be on Thursdays and Saturdays, starting in 2012-2013.

The teams would play at opposite locations, meaning if the women are home, the men would be on the road. Currently, the men play on Thursdays and Saturdays, while the women play on Saturdays and Mondays.

League presidents will vote on the matter in March when the schools converge on Sioux Falls for the Summit League Basketball Championships.

The change would almost certainly end doubleheaders at Frost Arena, which have been a staple at SDSU since the North Central Conference days. Doubleheaders are used by many teams in the conference to help boost attendance, but some teams don’t draw fans, regardless when the game is played.

“From our standpoint at SDSU, doubleheaders are huge and have been a big part of our culture. The vote was going to be unanimous outside of us. I’m not that enamored with the fact of not having doubleheaders and dealing with mirror scheduling, but to move the league forward and based on some of those limitations, we needed to do it,” said SDSU athletic director Justin Sell.

The move is good for the players – especially the women – because it would give them a legitimate day off on Sunday where they would not have classes or practice. Currently, the women do not have a day during the conference schedule where they are off from both activities.

“It’s really hard to go in and look at your student-athletes in the face and tell them “Hey, for three months you’re going to have no days off,” Sell said.

Changing the schedule format is also a worry amongst fans, who may be traveling in from all around the state, to choose between women’s and men’s games on weeknights.

“The other schools have built their men’s program around the Thursday-Saturday and were unwilling to make a sacrifice. We’re a little unique at SDSU because we average 2,500 to 3,000 people for every women’s game. Unfortunately, we’re the one school that it negatively impacts in a big way,” Sell said.

There is some hope to keep a few twin-bills on the schedule through some creative scheduling.

“We’re already looking at working with our men’s and women’s programs to try to setup some out-of-conference doubleheaders and certainly with our travel partner, NDSU, hopefully we can make that a doubleheader.”

Many fans’ season ticket plans, which are currently good for both men’s and women’s games on doubleheader nights, could potentially be split.

“Men’s basketball is starting to pick it up and we were going to get to the point of having to consider how we would do season tickets for men’s and women’s basketball based on demand anyway,” Sell said.

More games every week means it will be tougher for the school to continue to draw fans in their doors, unless the Jacks are winning.

“Ultimately, winning cures a lot of things. People want to see winning teams and if either [the men or women] are struggling it’s going to be hard to come to Brookings every Thursday and Saturday in January and February,” Sell said.

Excitement defined my week leading up to the match-ups with NDSU last Saturday. Most people I talked to around campus seemed to be just as excited, and I knew it would make for a great atmosphere at Frost Arena. There was a lot on the line for both teams, which added more to the excitement and drama.

After waking up at the crack of noon on game day, I called up a few buddies and we decided to do our best tailgating impression for a few hours before game time. Even a few bets were placed on who would have the best game for the Jacks.

When the time came, we ventured out into the cold, and I noted as we pulled up to Frost Arena that I hadn’t seen that many cars there in a long time. Decked out in khaki shorts and my treasured “Buck the Fison” shirt, I walked through the gates and immediately got goose bumps. A good rivalry game and a jam-packed arena is pure bliss for me, and seeing so many people decked in blue and yellow brought a huge grin to my face.

I hadn’t been to a basketball game yet this year, mostly because I had December 4 circled on my calendar. I wanted to wait for Summit League games to begin, and despite the outcome, I think I picked a good weekend for my first game.

The women’s game was more of a warmup to get my basketball mind on the right page and to practice yelling at officials. The first half was a real rollercoaster, and it tested my sanity from the beginning. In the second half, I did more walking around and talking to friends to cool my nerves before the men’s game.

The women lost, and I was pretty bummed. They put up a good fight, but it’s tough to win a game when you shoot 26% from three-point range. As more people streamed into Frost Arena for the men’s game, I knew it was going to get rowdy.

I was sort of wrong. Besides starting on a 7-0 run, for the most part of the first half, the Jacks couldn’t seem to get much going besides Nate Wolters, and I think it had a negative effect on the crowd. I kept thinking to myself, “Shouldn’t 5,000 people for a huge rivalry game be louder?”

Besides Wolters, fans didn’t have much to cheer about in the first half, as we saw our beloved Rabbits go down, 37-28. I think I stood up more for berating the refs with some choice words than to cheer. I knew it’d be a tough challenge to overcome shooting 27% from the floor and only knocking down two from downtown.

The first seven minutes of the second half seemed to be more of the same, but with the Jacks chipping away at the lead, I held on to hope that a comeback was in store . I went crazy, as well as the rest of Jackrabbit Nation, when Wolters stole the ball and dished it to Dale Moss for a huge slam and the first lead since the opening minutes. He threw it down with authority and I couldn’t help but think what a wonderful kick this might be to spring the Jacks to victory.

The rebounding skills displayed by NDSU all but doomed the Jacks though. I’m pretty sure the most common thing yelled by several others and myself, was either “BOX OUT” or “REBOUND.”

Although NDSU took both victories, the excitement all week and intensity on game night is the reason I love sports and being a Jackrabbit fan. The losses also set up big match-ups in Fargo at the end of February (Men-25th, Women-26th) that would be well worth the trip. Book your hotels accordingly. It’s going to be a fun season.