Women roll past Montana State

BOZEMAN, Mont. (GoJacks.com) — South Dakota State women’s basketball defeated Montana State, 82-67, Monday afternoon in its final road game of the non-conference slate.

The Jacks, now 6-2, shot 46.3 percent from the field, outrebounded Montana State 42-33 and outscored the Bobcats 34-20 inside the paint.

Myah Selland led all scorers with a career-best 27 points, including a 9-for-9 performance at the free throw line. Selland also grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and dished three assists. Tylee Irwin scored 22 points to tie her career high, while adding five rebounds and five assists. Paiton Burckhard finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Tori Nelson finished with seven points and Regan Nesheim added eight rebounds and two assists.

Nelson’s jumper three minutes into the game ignited a 9-0 run to put the Jacks ahead 9-4 with just under four minutes to play in the opening quarter. 3-pointers by Irwin and Sydney Stapleton put the Jacks up by nine at the 1:48 mark. Montana State outscored SDSU 5-2 in the final minute, but the Jacks still held onto a 19-13 lead at the end of the first.

Two Selland baskets within the first two minutes of the second quarter gave the Jacks their first double digit lead of the afternoon (23-13). Nine unanswered Bobcat points gave Montana State a brief two-point lead until the Jacks stormed back with an 8-0 run to regain the lead with 32 seconds left in the half. A Montana State layup with four seconds to go made it a 35-31 game heading into the break.

The Jacks came out of the locker room strong with seven consecutive points, leading 42-31 at the 7:39 mark in the third quarter. Montana State outscored the Jacks 12-6 over the next four minutes to get back within five, but Selland took control with seven unanswered points to give the Jacks a 13-point lead with 2:22 left in the third. Burckhard closed a very strong offensive quarter for the State with a pair of free throws to make it 60-48.

The Jackrabbit offense continued to roll in the fourth quarter. Irwin scored seven of the first nine points of the quarter for a 9-0 SDSU run to give the Jacks a 21-point advantage with 6:59 to play. One last Montana State charge of nine unanswered brought the Bobcats back within single digits, but the Jackrabbit lead was ultimately too large to overcome. Three Irwin free throws and a Lauren Rongisch 3-pointer in the final minute secured the 82-67 win.

South Dakota State returns home to wrap up non-conference play against Northern Iowa Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside Frost Arena.