SDSU, ORU sweep away NDSU
South Dakota State
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits simply overwhelmed the North Dakota State women’s basketball team Wednesday, Jan. 23 by a score of 86-33.
After an early Bison lead, SDSU put the Herd away early with a 22-2 run. The Bison were overmatched and facing a 26-8 deficit after the first quarter was too much to overcome. The game was over by halftime, with the Jacks holding a commanding 43-14 lead.
A 10-2 run by the Bison to end the game was much too little, much too late, as the Herd dropped to 6-13 overall and 3-4 in Summit League play on the year. No Bison player was able to reach double-digit scoring on the night. Marina Fernandez came closest with 9 points. NDSU shot a poor 15 percent from 3-point range.
SDSU came in tied for first in the Summit League standings, but scoring 14 points at half is not going to win many games regardless of the opponent. The Jacks shot well all night, shooting 57 percent from the floor while the Bison only made 14 shots all night.
Oral Roberts
The Bison followed up a tough loss to SDSU with a 101-72 loss to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. Despite the final score, the Bison were competitive early.
The Bison gained some momentum toward the end of the half, tying the game up 38-38.
The Eagles could simply do no wrong in the third quarter, however. The Eagles hit all seven 3-pointers they took in the third quarter, going 12-15 overall.
The 73-53 hole was too much to overcome for the Bison. Rylee Nudell did put up 22 points on the evening, a career-high for the senior. Michele
Gaislerova and Sofija Zivaljevic each got into double digits, with 18 and 11 points respectively.
The back-to-back losses are discouraging, but come with a few silver linings. For starters, this might have been the best the Golden Eagles will shoot all year. Plus, the Bison now get to return to the Scheels Center in which they have won three of their last four.
After an exhilarating win against North Dakota, the Herd was humbled by SDSU and Oral Roberts. Perhaps the losses were letdowns after an exciting win against an archrival, or maybe it’s as simple as the Bison just being overmatched. Regardless, the Bison should take from these games what they can.