FARGO, N.D. – The South Dakota State women’s basketball team improved its win streak to 16 games with a sweep of North Dakota State this weekend. The men split the two-game series with the Bison and both games were thrillers.

Women

• No. 23 SDSU 86, North Dakota State 78

SDSU finished off the Bison shorthanded Friday night. The Jackrabbits played the fourth quarter without star player Myah Selland and Tori Nelson. Both of them went down with knee injuries.

SDSU jumped out to 23-16 lead in the first quarter. Both teams scored 16 points in the second quarter and the Jacks took the seven-point lead to the locker room.

SDSU’s lead grew to as many as 13 in the third quarter and it led 61-52 at the end of the third. The Bison cut the deficit to 66-62 with 7:18 left in the game, but SDSU pushed the lead back to eight multiple times. Tylee Irwin hit a dagger with 33 seconds left to put the Jacks up 81-74 and put the game out of reach.

Irwin led the Jacks with 25 points. Paiton Burckhard had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Selland finished with 10 points. Lindsey Theuninck and Nelson each had eight points.

The Jacks shot 52.9% from the field and were 7-for-19 from 3. They won the rebounding battle 36-26.

The Bison shot 44.6% from the field and were 8-for-19 from deep.

They were led by Heaven Hamling, who had 23 points.

Ryan Cobbins had 14 points and seven rebounds. Emily Dietz had 15 points and Abby Schulte had 13.

Saturday

• No. 23 SDSU 69, North Dakota State 60

With Selland and Nelson out, Irwin picked up the slack again and carried the Jacks to victory. The Whapeton, N.D., native scored a career-high 31 points and passed the 1,000-point mark for her career along the way. Irwin scored 20 points in the first half.

SDSU and NDSU each scored 13 points in the first quarter. The Jacks then outscored the Bison 17-11 in the second to take a lead into halftime.

The Jacks kept the Bison at arms length in the third quarter and led 48-43 heading into the final frame. NDSU cut the lead to 57-54 with 4 minutes left. SDSU then went on a 10-2 run to take an 11-point lead with 53 seconds left and put the game away.

SDSU shot 47.9% from the game and were 7-for-19 on 3-pointers. Burckhard scored 11 points and grabbed six boards. Madysen Vlastuin had nine points.

The Bison shot 41.7% from the field and were 7-for-18 from 3. They were led by Cobbins, who had 16 points and six rebounds. Dietz had 10 points and seven rebounds. Kadie Deaton scored 11 points.

SDSU forced 18 turnovers for the game. The Bison outrebounded the Jacks 31-27.

The Jacks are now 19-2 overall and 12-0 in the Summit League. With the sweep, SDSU clinched at least a share of the regular-season conference title and the No. 1 seed in the Summit League Tournament.

The Jacks host Kansas City next weekend to close out the regular season. If SDSU wins one of those two games the Jacks will secure an outright regular-season title.

Men

Friday

• SDSU 68, North Dakota State 67 

Charlie Easley hit a 3-pointer to put the Jacks up one with 18 seconds left and NDSU did not get off a shot, as SDSU picked up the victory.

SDSU trailed 65-60 with 2 minutes left. Matt Dentlinger then made a layup and Baylor Scheierman hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 59 seconds left.

Rocky Krueser converted a layup with 39 seconds left to give the Bison the lead.

And then Easley hit the game winner.

The Jacks jumped out to 11-2 lead in the first 4 minutes of the game. SDSU then led 38-27 with 2 minutes left in the first half, but NDSU cut it to six by halftime.

SDSU led 53-43 with 14 minutes left in the game. The Bison then went on 14-4 run to tie the game with 7:15 left. The game was later tied 60-60 with 3:46 left in the game.

Scheierman led the Jacks with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Dentlinger scored 13 points. Alex Arians scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Easley and Matt Mims each had nine points. The Jacks pulled out the win despite their leading scorer, Douglas Wilson, shooting 2-for-10 and scoring four points.

SDSU shot 46.4% from the field and was 13-for-25 from long range. The Jacks won the rebounding battle 30-28.

NDSU shot 50% from the field and was 7-for-20 from three.

The Bison were led by Sam Griesel who had 17 points and four rebounds. Tyree Eady and Krueser each scored 13 points. Grant Nelson had 10 points and five boards.

Saturday

• North Dakota State 84, SDSU 82

SDSU trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half, but saw its comeback come up short as the Jacks suffered their third conference loss of the season.

With 13:10 left in the game, NDSU led 67-45. SDSU then went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 14. The Jacks then went on 12-2 run to cut the lead to 79-76 with 2:49 left.

Scheierman made a layup with 19 seconds left to make 83-80 NDSU. Krueser then made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 84-80 with 17 seconds left. Dentlinger made a layup to cut it to 84-82, but there was no time left and the Bison claimed the victory.

The Jacks shot 57.4% from field and were 5-for-19 from 3. The Bison shot great as well as they were 56.1% from the field and 11-for-23 from 3. The Bison won the battle on the boards again, 30-27.

Wilson had a bounce back game. He led the Jacks with 29 points. Dentlinger scored 15 points and grabbed eight boards. Scheierman had 14 points and five rebounds.

The Bison were led by Krueser, who had 17 points and six rebounds. Griesel had 15 points. Eady, Nelson and Jarius Cook each had 10 points. Maleeck Harden-Hayes scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Jacks now sit in third place in the Summit League with an overall record of 13-6 and 7-3 in conference games behind NDSU and South Dakota. The Jacks close out the regular season against Kansas City. NDSU and USD play each other next weekend.