KSFY News - Sioux Falls, SD News, Weather, SportsJacks blast ORU 70-51, widen Summit lead

Jill Young notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jennie Sunnarborg added 18 points and eight boards to lead South Dakota State to a 70-51 victory over Oral Roberts Monday night at Frost Arena in a matchup of the top two teams in The Summit League.

The Jackrabbits recorded their eighth consecutive victory, improving to 17-7 overall and 12-1 in league play and extending their lead in the standings to three games with five to play. ORU dropped to 15-9 overall, 9-4 in The Summit League.

Leading 29-26 at halftime, SDSU opened the second half on an 8-0 run in the first minute and 45 seconds. Steph Paluch capped the spurt with a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Jackrabbits their firstdouble-digit lead of the night.

Behind the play of guard Jaci Bigham, the Golden Eagles trimmed the margin to four points, 43-39, on a three-pointer with 12 minutes and 50 seconds remaining.

From there it was all Jackrabbits. SDSU put the game away with a 19-2 run over the next six minutes. The outburst got off to an unconventional start as Gabrielle Boever's intended lob pass found the basket instead for a three-pointer. Young, Tara Heiser and Ashley Eide also connected on three-balls in the decisive run.

Action in the first half was back and forth as the game was tied four times and the lead changed hands on eight occasions. SDSU opened with a 5-0 lead before ORU grabbed its largest lead of the night, 17-15, on a three-pointer by Summit League career scoring leader Kevi Luper.

With the game knotted at 23-all, freshman Mariah Clarin gave the Jackrabbits the lead for good with a layup and Young pushed the margin to six, 29-23, with a three-pointer just below the two-minute mark.

Young finished 6-of-11 from three-point range en route to her 19 points. As a team, the Jackrabbits were 10-of-20 on three-point attempts and 24-of-49 overall from the field, 49 percent. At the line, SDSU converted 12-of-19 attempts, 63.2 percent.

Bigham led ORU with 23 points, while Luper was held to nine points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field.

Despite committing 24 turnovers, the Jackrabbits made up for their miscues on the defensive end and in the rebounding department. SDSU held the Golden Eagles to 19-of-59 shooting from the field, 32.2 percent, including 7-of-8 on three-point tries. ORU made 6-of-8 free throw attempts for 75 percent.

SDSU dominated the boards, 45-27, as Young tied a career high with 10 rebounds. Savanna Buck and Dominique Allen each corralled fiveboards.

The Jackrabbits resume Summit League action Saturday (Feb. 11) at UMKC. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. at Swinney Recreation Center in Kansas City, Mo.