Shorthanded SDSU women's basketball team edges out Arkansas State in back-and-forth season opener
With injuries limiting the South Dakota State women’s basketball roster to only nine healthy players, coach Aaron Johnston leaned on one of his youngest to close out Arkansas State, 55-42, in Monday’s season opener.
Sophomore Ellie Colbeck was thrust into a closing lineup with Tori Nelson, Madysen Vlastuin, Paige Meyer and Brooklyn Meyer.
With 2:14 left in the game and the Wolves within five points, Colbeck had her moment. She took and made a three from the right wing to give SDSU an eight-point lead. It was her only made field goal of the game.
“She puts a lot of work in, so in crunch time when you have the open shot, you take it. And she did just that,” Paige Meyer said postgame.
Johnston said he trusted Colbeck in the closing lineup because of her ability to shoot and handle the ball against the Arkansas State full court pressure. While she was in the closing lineup tonight, Johnston said they’ll approach that lineup on a game-by-game basis.
“We'll just continue to (evaluate) each situation and figure out what we feel like is best,” Johnston said.
The game was tied five times and there were six lead changes against the Wolves, a team that went 13-19 last season.
Freshman Jenna Hopp also played 18 minutes and provided great defensive effort and rebounding.
The Jackrabbits will have to rely on both Colbeck and Hopp for the foreseeable future after season ending injuries to Kallie Theisen, Haleigh Timmer, and a more recent injury to Hilary Behrens.
“She had an injury that we thought wasn't going to be this long in terms of recovery,” Johnston said of Behrens.
While South Dakota State was shaky offensively -- they shot 36% from the field including 33% from three and 45% from the line -- they relied on their defense to create the separation. They forced the Wolves to shoot 22% from the field and 15% from three.
Paige Meyer led the team in points with 18 and had four assists. Brooklyn Meyer came alive late in the third quarter, blocking shots and scoring on the other end. She finished with her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Arkansas State guard Izzy Higginbottom had a game-high 22 points.
Up next the Jackrabbits will travel to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDSU women's basketball edges out Arkansas State
