Women's Basketball

Jackrabbits earn shot to go for fourth straight tournament title

The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota State 74, No. 3 South Dakota 59
Records: South Dakota State (26-6, 14-2 SL), South Dakota (23-9, 12-4 SL)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 2 seed South Dakota State got 20-point performances from its two senior standouts in defeating No. 3 South Dakota 74-59 in the semifinals of the Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The win gives the Jackrabbits a shot a winning a fourth consecutive tournament title.

SDSU center Brooklyn Meyer scored 24 points with nine rebounds and guard Madison Mathiowetz put up 23 with five rebounds. The Jackrabbits also got a career-high 12 rebounds from Hilary Behrens en route to a 44-29 advantage on the glass.

The Jackrabbits started hot, leading by 10 in the middle of the first quarter and were on pace to score 100 points. But the Coyotes responded by holding the Jackrabbits scoreless for a three-minute stretch and rallied to take their first lead of the game at 25-24 early in the second quarter.

SDSU would handle the Coyote spurt and take a 36-31 lead into halftime. Mathiowetz and Meyer combined for 12 of SDSU's 14 third-quarter points as they extended the lead 51-42. 

The Coyotes could not chip away at the deficit in the final stanza as the margin grew to 15. USD got 18 points from senior guard Angeline Robles and 17 from backcourt mate Molly Joyce. Elise Turrubiates contributed a team-high 11 rebounds.

The Jackrabbits will play No. 1 seed North Dakota State in the women’s championship game at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Turning Point
SDSU held USD 9 minutes, 35 seconds without a field goal from late in the second quarter into the middle of the third. In that time, the Jackrabbits went from trailing 29-27 to leading 44-31.

Inside the Box Score 
  • The Jackrabbits held a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass and turned those into a 17-3 advantage in second-chance points.
  • Meyer and Mathiowetz became the fifth pair of Jackrabbit teammates to score 20-plus in the same tournament game, including each of the last three tournaments.
  • Each team turned the ball over nine times but SDSU turned those into 14 points, while USD managed only seven. 
News & Notes
  • This was the third Summit semifinal matchup between these programs as SDSU improved to 2-1 in those clashes.
  • Prior to this game, South Dakota had only one loss in semifinal games at the Summit League Tournament and are now 9-2 all-time in this round.
  • This will be the fifth straight title-game appearances for the Jacks, who have won the last three and will be vying for their 13th overall title in 18 appearances.
#SUMMITWBB