BROOKINGS, S. D. - The Western Illinois (2-9, 1-2) women's basketball team dropped game one of the series against South Dakota State (8-2, 1-0) 61-71 on Friday (Jan. 8) night.
The victory marked the 500th career win for SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston.
"First of all, congrats to Aaron Johnston on 500 wins, head coach JD Gravina said. "That is a phenomenal accomplishment. I wish it had come against a different team, but I thought our players really battled. That could have got away from us after the run they made coming out of halftime, but I like how our team stayed poised and battled back."
Evan Zars paced the offense as she scored the first seven points and helped WIU earn its largest lead of the contest, 13-5 at the 4:33 mark. She ended with her third double-double on the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Leading the Summit League in steals for multiple weeks, Elizabeth Lutz continued the trend and tied her career-high with five steals.
Tied (15-15) after the first, SDSU used multiple short runs in the second quarter, capped off by a 10-2 to push out ahead. A late 6-0 run started by two Grace Gilmore free-throws made it 28-36 at the half. The senior finished with a team-high 14 points and a perfect 6-6 from the line.
Out of the half, a 7-0 run by the Jackrabbits forced a Leatherneck timeout, and the host eventually gained its largest lead of the night, 60-43 (1:43). Freshman Anna Deets chipped away late to lead a 9-0 run and brought the deficit to ten, 50-60, to enter the final quarter.
Both sides started slowly as there were only eight points combined in the fourth quarter's first five minutes. Free-throws from Nichols at 2:22 made it 59-68, but SDSU held on to take game one of the series.
Game two is set for 5 p.m. tomorrow inside Frost Arena.
