SDSU women roll past Denver
Jan. 13—BROOKINGS — South Dakota State picked up its fifth win in a row, jumping out to a big start and coasting from there in a 68-50 Summit League victory over the Denver Pioneers.
With the win, SDSU improves to 11-5 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Denver falls to 4-12 and 1-2 with their fourth straight loss. The Jacks now lead the all-time series against the Pioneers 22-2.
SDSU used a 15-0 run in the first quarter to take a 19-4 lead, and the game was pretty much in hand right there. They led 26-9 after one quarter and 42-24 at the half, then held the Pios to just three points in the third quarter to further put the visitors away.
Paige Meyer, the reigning Summit League player of the week, had 17 points to lead the Jacks, while Jenna Hopp and Madison Mathiowetz had 12 each. Mesa Byom had 10 points and nine rebounds and Brooklyn Mayer had 11 points.
The Jacks shot 51 percent from the floor, using their inside presence to outscore the Pios 42-22 in the paint to go with a 33-28 rebounding edge, but it was, as usual, the SDSU defense that carried them. The Jacks held DU to 35 percent shooting and turned them over 20 times. They made it difficult for Denver to score inside, and their perimeter defense held them to a 4-of-25 effort from the 3-point line. Emma Smith had 13 points to lead the Pioneers.
SDSU travels to Omaha next Thursday before hosting the rivalry game with USD on Saturday night.
