SDSU Women Win At Western Illinois

South Dakota State is one step closer to winning a fourth Summit League regular season championship in the past six seasons, after a 61-52 win at Western Illinois Saturday.

SDSU is now 12-2 with two conference games left, maintaining a one and-a-half game lead over IUPUI in the standings.  The Jacks need to win the conference outright to capture the number one seed in next month's Summit League Tournament, because IUPUI holds the tiebreaker after sweeping SDSU this season.

In Macomb Saturday, the Jacks fell behind 4-0, but quickly raced ahead thanks to a 20-4 run.  Rachel Walters scored all nine of her points in the first half on a trio of three-pointers, as SDSU held the Leathernecks to just 26 percent shooting, taking a 34-18 lead at intermission.

South Dakota State did cool off themselves in the second half, letting Western Illinois cut the lead to single digits, but the Jacks outscored the Leathernecks 20-9 at the free throw line to preserve the win.

Gabby Boever led SDSU with 13 points, Ashley Eide added 12 points, and leading scorer Megan Waytashek contributed five assists and five rebounds, despite a cold shooting night, going just three-for-11.

South Dakota State now has 20 wins or more in six of the last seven seasons.  The Jacks play their final home game of the regular season Thursday night when they host Omaha.