The No. 2 South Dakota State women’s basketball team is now just one win away from punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament after beating No. 3 South Dakota, 74-59, in the Summit League tournament semifinals on Saturday, March 7.
The Jackrabbits will face No. 1 North Dakota State for the automatic berth at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 8.
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Here are a few reasons the Jackrabbits got the job done, and how the Coyotes fared.
Intensity jacked up to 11
This game had the intensity of an NCAA Tournament game, and there were points when you could cut the tension with a fairly dull butter knife.
Both teams handled it differently, but you could tell there were some Jackrabbits who had been in these spots plenty of times before.
Maddie Mathiowetz scored 11 points in just the first quarter and finished with 23 on the day. Brooklyn Meyer did what she does best and battled for all 24 of her points and all nine of her rebounds.
South Dakota has plenty of veterans in its own right, with Angelina Robles, Molly Joyce, Elise Turrubiates, Jenna Hopp, Patience Williams and Josie Hill all having played multiple years of college basketball and working in pressure situations before.
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Robles took off in the second quarter, scoring nine of her 18 in that frame.
The ‘Yote fans made themselves heard amongst the sea of blue in the Denny Sanford Premier Center, and made for an incredible environment for this big-time clash.
South Dakota survives with Joyce on the bench
Molly Joyce has become a breakthrough co-star with Robles over the last few weeks, and she was sidelined for half of the first half with foul trouble.
Turrubiates stepped up with seven first-half points alongside Robles’ 12 points, and it allowed the Coyotes to trail 36-31 at halftime. She buried a big 3-pointer, defended hard and grabbed nine rebounds, all on the defensive end, before halftime.
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Joyce wasn’t the only Coyote to get into foul trouble, as Williams got her second earlier in the half and Hill and Turrubiates each picked up their second fouls late in the second quarter.
Mathiowetz baited Joyce into her second foul, and Meyer drew some whistles that upset South Dakota head coach Carrie Eighmey.
Jacks run things through Meyer
After a few games of the guards breaking out, Meyer got plenty of touches starting in the second quarter. Nearly every possession ran through the senior forward, and she frequently reposted to get a better angle or deeper positioning.
That, combined with lots of block-to-block flashes, got her the ball right next to the rim where she could get shots up and draw fouls.
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That forced this pesky Coyote team to pinch down to create pressure by putting more bodies on her.
Mathiowetz and Emilee Fox made them pay for that, with the duo combining for an 8-2 run to put the Jackrabbits up double figures.
South Dakota State battles to the finish
South Dakota was never going to give up in this one, and the Coyotes scratched and clawed the entire game despite leading for just 1:17.
As soon as the Jackrabbits took a 46-33 lead with 5:09 left, South Dakota started chipping away.
South Dakota State held the lead the rest of the way and rebuilt a big lead, but it came through intense pressure and lots of rushed shots.
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Mathiowetz and Meyer, the Jackrabbits’ two star seniors, were the calming presences on the court as this game wound down. Mathiowetz controlled the offense on the perimeter, and Meyer made herself available for post entries as much as she could.
Mathiowetz scored 12 points after halftime, while Meyer had six points just in the fourth.
The Coyotes got contributions from all over the board, with Joyce going for nine points in the second half, Williams burying a 3-pointer, Tori Schlagel adding four points and Jenna Hopp pitching in three.
Overall, it just wasn’t enough to get past a South Dakota State team that has more top-end talent and size.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: 4 reasons SDSU women beat South Dakota in the Summit League tournament
