Amy McNear scored a game-high 28 points in leading Western Kentucky to an 81-74 non-conference victory over South Dakota State in women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at Frost Arena, snapping the Jackrabbits’ 15-game home winning streak.

The Lady Toppers improved to 3-0 on the season. SDSU dropped its third consecutive game, falling to 1-3 overall.
The game was a see-saw affair throughout, featuring 11 ties and 18 lead changes. The second half alone contained 11 lead changes.

Western Kentucky built an early six-point lead, 11-5, before the Jackrabbits tied the game on back-to-back three-pointers by Macie Michelson and Kristin Rotert. The tandem of Rotert and Michelson again hit back-to-back threes midway through the first half to give SDSU its biggest lead of the day, 23-17.

Trailing 33-31 with just under two minutes remaining in the first half, the Jackrabbits ended the frame with a 7-0 spurt, highlighted by Michelson’s traditional three-point play with 2.7 seconds left that put SDSU up 38-33 heading into the locker room.

The Lady Toppers gained the momentum early in the second half, taking the lead momentarily at 41-40 on a Jessica Magley layup. McNear put WKU in the lead for good with 8 minutes, 14 second remaining in the game on a drive to the basket.

SDSU stayed within reach, but couldn’t come up with the big defensive stop when necessary. Jill Young hit a three-pointer with 4:54 to play to pull the Jackrabbits back to within two, 65-63, but McNear answered with a jumper seconds later to stem the tide.

WKU?made its final 12 free throw attempts of the second half to secure the victory and also shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field in the final 20 minutes. For the game, the Lady Toppers were 28-of-61 from the field, 45.9 percent, including 2-for-10 on three-pointers. At the line, WKU was 23-of-27, 85.2 percent.

McNear finished the game 11-of-17 from the field and 6-of-7 at the line, while also contributing five assists and five rebounds. Arnika Brown posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Courtney Clifton and Dominique Duck each tallied 10 points.

SDSU was led by Rotert’s 16 points. Michelson finished with 13 points, followed by Maria Boever with 11. Boever finished off her second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds as the Jackrabbits held a 38-36 rebounding advantage, including 17 on the offensive end. Ketty Cornemann rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Jackrabbits with 10 points.

The Jackrabbits ended the day 21-of-58 from the field, 36.2 percent, including 7-of-24 from three-point range. At the line, SDSU made 25-of-31 attempts, 80.6 percent.

SDSU will attempt to regroup as it heads to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam Thursday and Friday. The Jackrabbits will open their portion of tournament play against Charlotte (N.C) with a noon Eastern start on Thanksgiving Day.

NOTES: Western Kentucky leads the series, 2-0, winning the initial matchup during the 2006-07 season ... SDSU dropped to 4-4 against Sun Belt Conference opponents ... the Jackrabbits suffered their first regular season home loss in 36 games, since a loss to Marquette (Wis.) on Dec. 31, 2006 ... SDSU now is 117-13 at Frost Arena under head coach Aaron Johnston ... the Jackrabbits were a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line in the first half ... Boever upped her career scoring total to 950 points ... the Jackrabbits’ last three-game losing streak came in the 2005-06 season, when SDSU dropped consecutive road games to Marquette, Colorado and Long Beach State (Calif.)

Courtesy: SDSU Sports Information.