Andrew Holtan | The Brookings Register
BROOKINGS – South Dakota State capped off the regular season with an exclamation point on Saturday night as the Jackrabbits beat in-state rival South Dakota 82-49 at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings.
SDSU has now won seven-straight games, including beating Summit League-leading North Dakota State 59-44 on Wednesday night. The Jacks’ only two losses in conference play came to USD and NDSU and SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said his team executed better and played with more of an edge in the rematches.
“You know, we played better,” Johnston said. “I don’t think in either of our first two games [against NDSU and USD] we played great. You know, so it’s about just trying to improve from what didn’t go well in those first games. … Some of it was just needing to play a lot harder, a lot more urgency, a lot more fight. I think that, to me, was a big difference in both of those games.”
With Saturday’s win, the Jackrabbits clinched the No. 2 seed in the Summit League Tournament. SDSU senior center Brooklyn Meyer said the Jacks have been playing together more during this win streak and it especially showed in the wins over the Bison and the Coyotes.
“I feel like we’ve just been more connected and just more determined, I feel like, in executing our game plans. It’s the last week of the regular season, and so we’re like, why not go out there and give it our best and trust in each other? I feel like I’m just really proud of how we’ve played this week,” Meyer said.
SDSU led 9-2 four minutes into the game. The Coyotes then scored four-straight points but SDSU would answer that with an 18-2 run and led 27-8 going into the second.
The Jacks would push the lead to 42-20 with 6:04 to go in the first half. USD cut the lead to 48-32 with 44 seconds left but Emilee Fox capped off the half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Jacks a 51-32 lead going into the locker room.
SDSU went on an 8-2 run to start the second half and led 59-34 with 4:21 to go in the third. Fox hit another 3-pointer late in a quarter and this time it was with 19 seconds left and it gave the Jacks a 64-40 lead entering the fourth.
The Jackrabbits honored three seniors before Saturday’s game in Meyer, Madison Mathiowetz and Ellie Colbeck. The three are now 110-22 overall and finished 64-2 during the regular season in the Summit League.
Meyer dominated in her final game in First Bank & Trust Arena. She was 13-of-17 from the field and led the Jacks with 33 points and seven rebounds. It was the fourth time this season that she scored more than 30 points. She set her career-high with 44 points against Oral Roberts on Feb. 19.
Meyer reflected on her last game in Brookings after the game.
“It was really special. I was just trying to stay focused. I tend to get a little emotional on senior day. … Whenever you walk off the court, you know, for the last time it gets emotional. I’ve built such great relationships with all the coaches and obviously my teammates too, and it just makes it really special,” Meyer said.
Johnston added that Meyer will not only go down as one of the best players to play at SDSU, but one of the best players to ever play in the Summit League.
“What Brooklyn has done for her career, it’s hard to say somebody’s had a better career than Brooklyn in the Summit League. I mean, you might say someone’s had as good of a year or something like that, but as a career, whoever those really good players are, she’s up there with them. It’s been pretty remarkable,” Johnston said.
SDSU shot 50.8% from the field and was 9-of-21 from three. Emilee Fox made four 3-pointers to score 12 points. Hadley Thul and Brooklyn Felchle each had 10 points.
SDSU held USD to 31.6% shooting and the Coyotes were 3-of-22 from three. The Coyotes shot 46.2% from the field and were 11-of-25 from beyond the arc the last time the two teams met and Fox said the Jacks played more together and had a better game plan this time around.
“We were just more connected. We kind of had a better game plan, just knowing the players better and guarding them how we’re supposed to. I think that really just helped us in playing team defense,” Fox said.
The Jackrabbits will take on No. 7 seeded Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament on Thursday at 12 p.m. Meyer said SDSU has built up a lot of confidence over the past month.
“I feel like we definitely have some momentum going [into the tournament]. I feel like winning two tough games against teams that have beat us before, you know, gives us good confidence and gives us good momentum going into next week. I feel like as long as we just stay together and stay focused, it will be good for us,” Meyer said.
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