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, Monday evening at Frost Arena.
"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," said Western head coach Leslie Crane.
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 its own to close the half, receiving layups 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 layup 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. It was the fourth straight game in double-digits for Clark. 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 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.
 

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 81, WESTERN ILLINOIS 47
WESTERN ILLINOIS (4-12, 2-3) - Myers 1-2 2-2 4, Lord 3-4 0-0 6, Walker 1-7 0-0 3, Clark 4-13 1-1 10, Borgertpoepping 3-6 0-0 6, Horsman 1-3 4-4 6, Kodde 0-0 0-0 0, O'Brien 2-6 0-0 4, Thorman 3-4 0-0 6, Wutt 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 19-49 7-7 47.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (16-2, 5-1) - Cornemann 5-10 2-2 13, Oistad 6-11 1-5 14, Warkenthien 10-17 0-1 21, Young 4-7 1-1 12, Muckenhirn 0-3 0-0 0, Michelson 3-5 0-0 6, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Rotert 2-8 3-4 8, Schuttloffel 2-2 0-0 4, Meier 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 33-65 7-13 81.
Halftime - SDSU 35-19. Three-point goals - WIU 2-6 (Walker 1-2, Clark 1-2, O'Brien 0-1, Borgertpoepping 0-1), SDSU 8-23 (Young 3-5, Meier 1-1, Warkenthien 1-2, Cornemann 1-3, Oistad 1-4, Rotert 1-4, Michelson 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Muckenhirn 0-2). Rebounds - WIU 27 (Lord 4, Walker 4, Wutt 4), SDSU 39 (Warkenthien 11). Fouls (fouled out) - WIU 17 (Horsman), SDSU 12. Assists - WIU 7 (Walker 4), SDSU 20 (Young 4). Turnovers - WIU 22, SDSU 12. Blocks - WIU 3, SDSU 2 (Warkenthien 2). Steals - WIU 6 (Walker 2), SDSU 12 (Michelson 3).
Officials - Debbie Adams, Ann Schroeder, Jeremy Zacher. A - 1,402.