BROOKINGS South Dakota State wrapped up its non-conference schedule by using a strong defensive effort and increased contribution from its young players to defeat Montana State 61-53 in their second game of the Big Sky Summit Challenge at Frost Arena on Saturday afternoon.
We keep getting better, SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said of the win. Thats the one thing you want as a coach and with so many new players this year, there are a lot of things were going to have to improve on.
The Jacks were in control early as they took their first lead on a 3-pointer by Paige Meyer that put SDSU up 5-4 with 8:22 in the first quarter. The Jacks shot 61 percent from the floor in the opening frame and used an 8-3 run to take a 24-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. Both teams played to an 11-11 draw in the second quarter before SDSU took a 35-26 lead into halftime but the third quarter brought some challenges for the Jacks as Montana State switched to a 2-3 zone.
Although SDSU turned the ball over six times in the third quarter, the Bobcats werent able to get a point off of those turnovers as the Jacks took a 47-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
I think we just had to adjust to it, SDSU guard Madison Mathiowetz, who had a team-high 14 points to go with six rebounds and three assists, said of Montana States zone. It took us a little bit and maybe we got a little flustered. They brought that energy and they were getting deflections and made it tough for us to move the ball. We just had to adjust and I think our coaches did a really good job of helping us work through that.
Montana State cut the lead down to 57-54 on a 3-pointer with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter but the Jacks defense took over from there. The Bobcats shot just 37 percent in the game and SDSUs 12 offensive rebounds including four in the fourth quarter sparked a 7-2 run that helped Jacks put the game away.
After the game, Johnston credited the Jacks communication as a reason for their success on the defensive end.
Early in the year, we had a lot of breakdowns, Johnston said. You dont see those as often. I seejust better defensive plays on ball screens. Were rebounding the ball better and that effort and those defensive things have really come a way from where we were in November.
In addition to their defense, SDSU also got solid contributions from their young players including sophomores Brooklyn Meyer (10 points, seven rebounds), Ellie Colbeck (six points, one assist) and Madysen Vlastuin (five points, 10 rebounds).
With juniors Paige Meyer (12 points, three steals and two assists) and Mesa Byom (five points, six rebounds) also contributing, Johnston believes his offense is coming of age even as SDSU shot 39 percent from the floor in the game and 7-for-23 (30.4%) on 3-point attempts.
Tonight wasnt our best offensive game, but we have a better sense of who we are [and] how we need to score, Johnston said. [Mathiowetz and Vlastuin have] really evolved into scoring options for us, so were getting more production from a lot of people.
Mara Dykstra led Montana State with a team-high 14 points to go with four rebounds, a steal and two blocks and Taylor Janssen added 11 points with three rebounds, an assist, two steals and two blocks in the loss.
The win helped SDSU earn its third straight win to close out the non-conference schedule and allowed the Jackrabbits to improve to 9-5 on the season before returning to Summit League play this week by hosting St. Thomas at Frost Arena on Thursday night.
With four of their five losses coming to ranked opponents players like Mathiowetz have stepped up to lead to a pair of wins over Northern Arizona and Montana State. Those victories have the Jacks building confidence as they head into the heart of the Summit League schedule.
I think especially after the win at Northern Arizona, we learned that we can be tough and we can battle through a lot, Mathiowetz said. Were ready to get through this marathon of a conference schedule and dominate through it.
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