Oakland University women’s basketball fell to South Dakota State University 64-43 at the Athletics Center O’rena on Thursday.

Freshman guard Elena Popkey finished with nine points and three rebounds. In her second game back after an injury, freshman forward Olivia Nash scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“They’re definitely a steady team,” Popkey said. “They have a lot of inside out action which we saw that a lot before we got into the conference.”

Both teams started off cold, with Oakland (7-9, 1-3) shooting 1-6 and South Dakota State (12-5, 4-0) just 1-8 within the game’s first few minutes.

SDSU had an early rebounding advantage, grabbing 10 boards compared to Oakland’s four with 15:22 remaining in the first half.

The Jackrabbits out rebounded Oakland 45-35 overall.

“They were pushing it inside and they drove well,” Nash said. “So we had to collapse better and play better defense and box out.”

The Jackrabbits went on a 13-2 run to extend their lead to 18-8 with under ten minutes left to play.

Oakland’s bench saw plenty of action early. Half of Oakland’s points in the first half came courtesy of the bench.

“South Dakota State is deep and (head coach Aaron Johnston) plays a lot of people and he really rests his starters so we knew that we would have to match their sharpness,” head coach Beckie Francis said. “They just come at you in waves so that’s why we went to our bench early. I thought our bench kept us in it and kept us fresh.”

The first three-pointer of the game for Oakland came after freshman guard Annemarie Hamlet’s basket to make it 18-11 with under eight minutes left in the first half.

Oakland got back within two points after sophomore guard Amy Carlton, subbing in for junior guard Victoria Lipscomb, made a 3-pointer with 3:40 remaining.

SDSU ended the first half on a 10-2 run, leading 32-22.

The second half began with both teams making early shots. A two-point basket from A. Hamlet brought Oakland within eight points with just under 15 minutes left to play.

South Dakota State shifted the momentum back to them by making three 3-pointers within two minutes to extend their lead to 45-31.

“I really like how we came back,” Francis said. “They just hit three quick threes on us and the game was kind of over. But I liked the fight.”

Oakland attempted a comeback after a steal from junior guard Elizabeth Hamlet resulted in a layup from sophomore guard Peyton Apsey to make it 48-37.

Despite being held scoreless for nearly five minutes, the Jackrabbits answered with an 8-0 run to make it 56-37 with 4:23 left in the game.

South Dakota State finished 10-28 three-point shooting. Oakland scored five three-pointers, all in the first half.

Oakland was without junior guard Zakiya Minifee due to a leg injury. According to Coach Francis, Nash will continue to slowly ease back in to her role in order to stay fresh and healthy.

An announcement is expected Monday on the status of senior forward Bethany Watterworth who hasn’t played all season due to an undisclosed injury.

“Bethany Watterworth was the preseason player of the year, Zakiya was all-conference, so it was like playing South Dakota State without your all-conference players and I thought that we had four freshmen on the floor a lot and we were competing with them,” Francis said. “It shows a bright future even for this season because when Zakiya comes back, and all the freshmen getting this experience, you never know what can happen in March.”

Oakland will play North Dakota State (5-10, 1-2) at the O’rena Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. A portion of every ticket sold will be donated to both CARE House and HAVEN in order to raise awareness for domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.