FARGO, N.D.--A strong start to the second half and a stout defense lifted South Dakota State University to a 67-49 win over North Dakota State University in a Summit League women's basketball game played before 2,743 spectators in the Bison Sports Arena on Saturday, Jan. 16. It was SDSU's ninth straight win over the Bison.

North Dakota State (9-8, 4-3 Summit) is scheduled to host IPFW (5-1, 7-9) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23 in the K Burgum Classic. The Mastodons lost to UMKC on Saturday and are tied for first place.

South Dakota State (9-8, 5-2 Summit) won for the fourth time out of five tries in Summit League road games this season.

The Jackrabbits led 23-21 at halftime and opened the second half with a 12-4 blitz that widened the margin to 35-25 with 15:18 remaining on Leah Dietel's two free throws.

Ketty Cornemann hit a jumper, Kristin Rotert and Jill Young each drained three-pointers, while Dietel added a pair of free throws to spark the run.

North Dakota State could only trim the deficit to seven, 35-28, on a Hannah Linz three-pointer with 13:58 left.

Cornermann finished with 16 points to lead a group of four SDSU players in double figures. Maria Boever scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Macie Michelson had 11 points and four assists, and Dietel added 10 points off the bench including 8 of 8 from the free throw line. The Jackrabbits bench outscored NDSU's 21-10.

South Dakota State shot only 31 percent in the first half but heated up to 52.4 percent in the second to finish at 40 percent for the game. NDSU made only 25.8 percent from field including 2 of 16 from the three-point line. The Jacks held a 44-36 edge on the glass.

For the first 10 minutes, the game was tied twice and the lead changed hands on six occasions.

Ashley Samuelson's layup gave the Bison its last lead of the game, 13-12, with 9:33 left in the first half. Samuelson ended the night eight rebounds, seven points and tied a career with five steals.

Michelson gave SDSU the lead for good, 14-13, with 7:48 remaining in the first period.

Katie Birkel and Inger Hodgson each scored 12 points to lead the Bison. NDSU did score 19 points off of 24 South Dakota State turnovers.