BROOKINGS, S.D.- The Western Illinois women's basketball team couldn't overcome 50.8 percent shooting by South Dakota State as it lost to the Jackrabbits, 81-47, at Frost Arena.

After trading baskets for the first four minutes of the game, the Westerwinds (4-12, 2-3 Summit League) took its only lead of the game after a pair of free throws by freshman Katie Horsman put Western up 8-6 with 15:19 left in the first half.

South Dakota State (16-2, 5-1 Summit League) answered with a 18-2 run that spanned seven minutes and was capped off by a three-pointer from Stacie Oistad with 8:15 left in the opening half, extending the Jackrabbit lead to 24-10.

Junior Katy Clark would answer with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 11 points at 24-13 with 7:31 remaining on the clock.

After the Jackrabbits pushed their lead to 16 points, Western received back-to-back buckets from freshman Katie Horsman and sophomore Anne Borgertpoepping, pulling the Westerwinds within 12 points, 31-19, with just over a minute before the break.

South Dakota State would answer with a 4-0 run of their own to close the half, receiving lay-ups from Ketty Cornemann and Macie Michelson, to head into the locker room up 35-19 at the half.

Jennifer Warkenthien would begin the second half with her own 4-0 run to push the Jackrabbit lead to 20 points with 18:43 left on the clock.

Back-to-back jumpers from junior Jordon O'Brien with 13:52 left in the game cut the lead to 16 points at 46-30.

After a pair of free throws from senior Nicole Myers, the Jackrabbits went on a 16-4 run capped off by Stacie Oistad lay-up with 4:03 left in the game, pushing the lead to 35 points at 75-40.

A three-pointer from Jill Young gave South Dakota State its largest lead of the game at 39 points, 81-42, with 1:39 remaining on the clock. Clark answered with a three-point play and a Borgertpoepping jumper finished the scoring in the game with an final score of 81-47.

Clark led the team in scoring for the fourth straight game, pouring in 10 points. Borgertpoepping, along with sophomore Ashley Lord and freshman Lyndi Thorman, chipped in with six points.

Warkenthien led all scorers with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, while pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. Oistad (14), Cornemann (13) and Young (12) all found the double-digit column for the Jackrabbits.

As a team, South Dakota State shot 50.8 percent (33-of-65) from the floor, while Western shot 38.8 percent (19-of-49), but shot 50 percent (11-of-22) in the second half.

The Westerwinds return home for a pair of Summit League games against Oral Roberts Saturday, January 17, at 4:30 p.m., and Centenary Monday, January 19, at 7 p.m. Both games are scheduled to take place at Waste Management Court at Western Hall.

Postgame Notes
? The ten points is the fourth straight game for Clark in double-digits and the seventh game this season.

? Borgertpoepping made her first career start in a Westerwinds' uniform.

? The Westerwinds were a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Horsman was 4-of-4, Myers was 2-of-2 and Clark was 1-of-1.

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Leslie Crane
On playing a ranked team
“South Dakota State is a very good team. We knew that it was going to take a good effort to hang in there with them tonight.”

On getting Jantine Kraak on the floor in the next game
“It'll be great to get Jantine back because we'll get more scoring. She is a low-post presence and passes the ball very well. It'll be nice to finally have the whole team together and to start playing with the team that we thought we would have had a while ago.”