USD blows out SDSU at home

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VERMILLION – It was a humbling game for the South Dakota State women’s basketball team. The Jackrabbits fell to No. 25 South Dakota 83-48 Sunday.

The Coyotes (17-2, 6-0) jumped out to a big lead early as they were up 26-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Jacks were able to hang around with the Coyotes in the second quarter outscoring them 18-16 in the period.

The game then got away from SDSU in the third quarter as USD went on a 11-3 run to close out the quarter and led 62-33. The Coyotes then poured it on in the fourth quarter and came away with a 35 point victory.

“It was a good win for USD. They played very well. The first few minutes of the game they were outstanding and we weren’t quite where we needed to be, in any game, but quite particularly this game. So I do think the first few minutes of the game kind of set the tone. We were in catch up mode, not just on the scoreboard, but in pace and execution. We just weren’t as sharp as we need to be in a game like today,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said.

The Jackrabbits (14-7, 6-1), who had won seven-straight games, struggled shooting the ball. They shot 36.7% from the field and were 3-17 from three. Johnston said he thought his team couldn’t find their rhythm against the Coyotes and the USD defense was the reason.

“I think out shot selection was fine. We took a lot of tough shots because their defense forced us into tough shots. I don’t think we went out there and tried to play different than we normally have. Sometimes in big games you can be tight and try to do too much, I didn’t see that from our team. I think their defense forced us into some tough shots. I think that goes back to execution, pace, just how are ball got stuck a lot offensively. … [USD] just played well and we didn’t and that’s tough, but it happens. We just have to move forward,” Johnston said.

The Coyotes were led by Preseason Summit League Player of the Year Ciara Duffy who had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Hannah Sjerven had 16 points and five rebounds. Chloe Lamb and Taylor Frederick each had nine points and Frederick also grabbed six boards. Madison McKeever and Monica Arens each had seven points. USD shot 53.4% from the field and the Coyotes were 10-20 from three.

Megan Bultsma led the Jacks with 12 points. Paiton Burckhard had 11 points and Tylee Irwin had nine. Johnston said his team collectively needs to play better if SDSU wants to beat USD at Frost Arena on Feb. 22nd.

“There’s not one particular player that needs to score more. Collectively we need a little more offense from everybody quite honestly. Some of forwards weren’t as involved as we’d like them to be in this game. Not only in missing shots, but not creating offense. Collectively were going to have to be better and [collectively] is an important word for us. There’s no one on our team where we say ‘hey we’re going to go this player all the time’,” Johnston said.

The Jackrabbits be back in action on Friday when they host North Dakota State at Frost Arena. Burckhard said SDSU won’t hang their heads after this loss and instead use it as motivation for the rest of the season.

“Obviously were disappointed that we didn’t win, but we’re not going to hang our heads for very long. We still have a lot more games the rest of the season. If anything, this is just going to motivate us to work harder and keep improving and beat them when they come to Brookings,” Burckhard said. 

No. 25 SOUTH DAKOTA 83, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 48

South Dakota State (14-7, 6-1)

Megan Bultsma 4-7 4-6 12, Paiton Burckhard 4-10 3-4 11, Tylee Irwin 4-11 0-0 9, Rylie Cascio Jensen 2-6 0-0 5, Sydney Stapleton 2-5 0-0 5, Tori Nelson 1-5 2-2 4, Tagyn Larson 1-3 0-0 2, Lindsey Theuninck 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Ferrand 0-0 0-0 0, Addison Hirschman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 9-12 48.

No. 25 South Dakota (17-2, 6-0)

Ciara Duffy 7-13 4-4 21, Hannah Sjerven 5-9 6-6 16, Taylor Frederick 4-8 1-2 9, Madison McKeever 3-6 0-0 7, Monica Arens 3-5 0-0 7, Macy Guebert 2-2 0-0 6, Liv Korngable 2-5 0-0 5, Claudia Kunzer 1-1 0-0 3, Jeniah Ugofsky 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Bonar 0-0 0-0 0, Regan Sankey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 11-12 83.

Halftime – 42-24 USD. 3-point field goals – SDSU 3-17 (Stapleton 1-3, Cascio Jensen 1-4, Irwin 1-5, Theuninck 0-2, Nelson 0-2), USD 10-20 (Guebert 2-2 , Kunzer 1-1, Duffy 3-4, McKeever 1-2, Arens 1-2, Lamb 1-3, Korngable 1-3, Sjerven 0-1, Frederick 0-1, Ugofsky 0-1). Rebounds – SDSU 21 (Cascio Jensen, Nelson 4), USD 38 (Duffy 11). Assists – SDSU 10 (Cascio Jensen 4), USD 18 (Duffy, McKeever 4). Steals – SDSU 7 (Cascio Jensen, Theuninck 2), USD 9 (McKeever 2). Blocks – SDSU 3 (Bultsma 2), USD 1 (Sjerven). Turnovers – SDSU 15, USD 15. Total fouls – SDSU 15, USD 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – SDSU team. A – 5,153.