BROOKINGS South Dakota State clinched its 10th regular season Summit League title on Thursday night as the Jackrabbit women dominated North Dakota 103-47 at Frost Arena.
It was the fourth-straight regular season conference title for the Jacks and senior Tori Nelson said it meant a little bit more doing it this year considering SDSU has lost four players to season-ending injuries.
It means a lot. Its great to do it with this group of girls, especially with the adversity we faced this year, its a little bit sweeter for us. Its fun to win outright on our own terms and I was excited to do it at Frost, Nelson said.
SDSU (23-5, 15-0) jumped out to a 7-0 lead. UND (9-19, 5-10) then cut the lead to 11-10 at the midway point of the first quarter but the Jacks closed the quarter with a 15-6 run and led 25-16 at the end of the first.
The Jacks began to pull away in the second quarter. The Fighting Hawks scored the first two points of the quarter but SDSU then rattled off nine straight to put the Jacks up 34-18 with 4:22 left in the half. SDSU took a 42-25 lead into halftime.
The third quarter is when things really got out of hand. The Jacks led 47-31 with 6:42 to play in the quarter and would outscore the Fighting Hawks 30-6 the rest of the period. That allowed SDSU to empty its bench in the fourth and cruise to another conference title.
The Jacks shot 63.9% from the field and were 15-of-31 from three. It was the second straight game that SDSU shot better than 60% and SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said the ball movement has been key in the explosive offensive numbers.
You cant always make 15 threes. Thats a unique kind of day, but we had a lot of open ones from good shooters and they were knocking them down. The ball movement was exceptional. Were just an efficient team. Theres not a lot of dribbles out there. Hopefully there is a purpose to it and not just for the sake of dribbling. When we pass the ball that well, its really helpful, Johnston said.
SDSU had six players score in double figures. Brooklyn Meyer led the Jacks with 17 points and two blocks. Madison Mathiowetz and Ellie Colbeck each had 16 points. Paige Meyer and Jenna Hopp each had 10 points and Mesa Byom had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Tori Tollefson, a softball player who joined the team in November due to injuries, scored a career-high eight points and made two 3-pointers. She said when shes making shots its a lot of fun because the crowd gives her and the team a lot of support.
The crowd here at Frost is amazing. We couldnt ask for anything more. Just the support theyve shown me and [Isabel Aesoph] and the whole team this year. They get pretty loud and its exciting for us to be playing in front of them, Tollefson said.
UND shot 27.4% from the field and was 0-of-16 from three. The Fighting Hawks were led by Kacie Borowicz who had 23 points.
SDSU had 45 rebounds and UND had 28. The Jacks were 10-of-19 at the free throw line and the Fighting Hawks were 13-of-19 at the line. SDSU had 14 turnovers and UND had 13.
SDSU has been to the NCAA Tournament 11 times and five of trips to the big dance have come in the past seven seasons. The Jacks clinched the No. 1 seed in the Summit League Tournament that will take place in Sioux Falls next weekend and will determine which team from the conference will head to the NCAA Tournament. Johnston said his team has two goals entering each season and they accomplished the first one on Thursday night.
I think [winning the conference tournament and regular season title] are both main goals, Johnston said. Every year we go into [the season] trying to win a regular season title. We never take the approach of lets just get to March and win those three games. Weve never looked at it that way. Weve always wanted to compete for conference titles. Not just because its a trophy or championship, but because I think if you can put together a full conference schedule and be on top, whatever that means, it means you’ve done things just a little bit better than other people have been able to.
Youve been more focused. You havent had a lot of peaks and valleys. Youve been able to handle adversity and youve just done a lot of good things. A lot of championship habits have to go into a regular season title. So, it means a lot to us.
SDSU will close out the regular season against second-place North Dakota State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Brookings. The Jacks narrowly beat the Bison 65-58 on Feb. 1 in Fargo and Brooklyn Meyer said SDSU is prepared for a much tougher test on Saturday.
Were looking forward to it. They have a really good team and theyve been playing really good, but so have we. Were really excited to get that chance to close out the regular season [against a good NDSU team], Meyer said.
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