The entire range of college basketball emotions descended upon Brookings and Jackrabbit Nation on Wednesday.
The inaugural night of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge was equal parts jubilation and heartbreak for South Dakota State, with the women winning a double-overtime thriller at Northern Arizona and the men seeing a comeback fall just short at Weber State. But whether happy or sad, the two games summed up why the event is a boon for both leagues.
On the women’s side, the Jackrabbits refused to be defeated. They erased a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to send the game to overtime and fought through an ugly first extra period before running away from the Lumberjacks in the second overtime.
Paige Meyer (37 points, 11-11 FT) scored the
most points of any Jackrabbit since 1987 in a highlight-filled effort. It was her last-second shot in the paint that sent the game to overtime and she was relentless throughout, with a full extension dive for the ball in the first overtime, encapsulating the fight SDSU played with to leave Flagstaff with an important win.
And what an opportunity it was.
It was the Jackrabbits’ best win to-date from a NET standpoint, taking down a 9-4 Lumberjacks squad that was the preseason co-favorites to win the Big Sky. Aaron Johnston’s typically difficult non-conference schedule yielded some good performances against power teams, but zero wins. The trip to Northern Arizona ended that drought, as well as provide the muscle memory in how to thrive in pressure-packed moments, like when Madysen Vlastuin sank a game-tying three with under a minute left in the fourth quarter.
It was never a question of whether this Jackrabbits team was a threat in the Summit, they just now have a quality win to put in their back pocket.
The men’s end of the equation contained as many thrills, even if the result was not as joyous. Eric Henderson’s team had to battle back from their own 13-point second half deficit against a Weber State team (10-4) that has been among the cream of the mid-major crop this season.
Zeke Mayo tied the game in the final seconds, notching a second-straight 20-point game in his return to the starting lineup after a one-game absence. While his return to form is big for SDSU, the Jackrabbits also saw big plays down the stretch from Matt Mims, Charlie Easley and William Kyle (15 points) to narrow the game.
The Wildcats won it on a well-defended Dillon Jones jumper, but the game has to give SDSU confidence. The Jacks' season sagged when the trip to the Don Haskins Basketball Invitational did not go as expected just before Christmas. But even in a loss, this effort against a quality opponent coupled with their league-opening win against North Dakota has to have the program thinking it can reach its preseason expectations.
Mid-major vs. mid-major non-conference action is precious, and that’s just what this post-holiday injection of non-league games provided on Wednesday night.
Outside of the SDSU bubble, the Summit had big moments on the women’s side where Oral Roberts and St. Thomas continued their momentum with wins over Northern Colorado and Sacramento State, respectively. Kansas City blitzed Portland State early to even its record on the season as well.
On the men’s side, reigning co-peak performers of the week Tommy Bruner and Frankie Fidler had big displays to keep their respective teams trending in the right direction. St. Thomas and Oral Roberts, for their part, each picked up the most sought after currency in the sport: road wins.
The Jackrabbits, however, got the very best of that playing the respective teams vying for supremacy on either side of the Big Sky and while they split the games, both SDSU teams came out of the first round of the challenge with something to hang their hats on.
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