The challenge facing South Dakota State in Friday's NCAA Tournament opener isn’t lost on the Jackrabbits. Aaron Johnston and Paiton Burckhard both honed in on one thing when asked about eighth-seeded USC during a press conference earlier this week.
 
Its daunting defense. 
 
Rayah Marshall and the Trojans have routinely held teams in the 40’s and 50’s this season. They have the nation’s 10th-best field goal percentage defense per herhoopstats.com, allowing opponents to shoot just 35.4% from the floor. They erase second chances. Put simply, points will be at a premium when the No. 9 Jackrabbits take the floor in Blacksburg, Va. 
 
“They really make it hard for you to be comfortable, hard for you to get shots off. They block a lot of shots,” Johnston said. “Those things are definitely elite from them.” 
 
The thing is, SDSU may have just what it needs to unpick that sturdy lock. 
 
Fresh off their first Summit League Tournament championship since 2019, this Jackrabbits team poses a challenge of its own to that vaunted USC defense. SDSU can move the ball and make defenses shift like few other teams in the country. While that has been a team effort, no two players stood out more during the Jackrabbits’ run in Sioux Falls than their sophomore backcourt duo of Haleigh Timmer and Paige Meyer.
 
The pair may be young and about to play in their first NCAA Tournament, but it's likely they're smack dab in the middle of the Trojans' own scouting efforts.
 
Timmer simply shines this time of year. All of her three career 20-point or more games have come in March, which includes her dynamic displays en route to the all-tournament team in the WNIT a year ago and, most recently, a 25-point outing against Oral Roberts last week. In total, she’s averaged 15.5 points over 11 career games in March.
 
The reigning Summit League Championship MVP may be in the perfect form to punctuate possessions in the Jackrabbits’ free-flowing offense. 
 
“Timmer has always had this in her,” Jackrabbit senior Paiton Burckhard said this week. “We’ve seen glimpses of it all season and for her to come out and have a phenomenal conference tournament was awesome to see, and it was fun to play with as well.” 
 
And while Timmer has been the finisher lately, Meyer and graduate student Dru Gylten can set the table for the team like few others in the country. It will come as no surprise to Jackrabbit nation, but Gylten’s vision and no-look passes have helped the Utah transfer register an assist rate (28.8%) that is within the 97th percentile of all Division I players. Meyer isn’t far behind, with her playmaking (26.5% assist rate) sitting within the 95th percentile. 
 
Both figures – impressive as they are – are lower than what either player has done in previous seasons, but that is irrelevant. As Meyer has entered the starting lineup in recent weeks as the latest milestone in return from last season’s late injury, Gylten has become a difference-maker off the bench. 
 
And opposing defenses can get especially stretched when the two play together. 
 
“With Paige getting healthy, we have such a strong connection and we play in such unique ways that it’s beneficial for the team,” Gylten said. “Being able to play off of each other has been awesome.” 
 
Johnston had similar sentiments about his backcourt after SDSU sliced up Omaha in the Summit League championship last week. 
 
“I do believe our guard play has been a huge, huge positive for this year’s team,” the longtime head coach said. “They make three’s, they pass the ball so well, we can put them in pick and roll and other situations and they create so well for each other.”
 
To be sure, Burckhard and Myah Selland will play key roles carving out good looks against a tall Trojan frontline that includes the 6’4 Marshall – an all-defense team honoree in the Pac-12 – and 6’2 Kadi Sissoko. Burckhard talked to the media last week about how the Jackrabbits planned to deal with that length and athleticism.
 
“We’re really going to have to hone in on how we can control the game and get the shots that we want to get,” the Aberdeen, S.D. native said. 
 
Not many teams have been able to manufacture the looks it wants like SDSU this season, with the Jackrabbits averaging 17.3 assists per game, the 12th best mark in the country. While Timmer and Meyer represent the future of the program, they also may hold the key to the present as SDSU tries to make another run in the NCAA Tournament.