Ariy-El Boynton

Senior night was Megan Vogel’s night. Vogel, SDSU’s lone senior and arguably the best player ever to put on the yellow and blue, led the team to an 86-51 victory over border rival North Dakota State University.

Before the game, Vogel was given flowers by Head Coach Aaron Johnston in a mini-ceremony. Vogel acknowledge the crowd, rubbed her eyes to remove of her tears and then handed the flowers off. She instantly got into serious game-face mode.

The ceremony began an emotional evening for the Jacks. Johnston said he, “told his players to embrace the emotion, and although there is a temptation to be over emotional, you just have to get through it.”

The Jacks did get through the emotion and concluded the last regular season home game on an extremely high note, claiming their 21st victory for the season, with only five loses, and their 10th win in a row. The Bison dropped to a 12-11 mark on the season.

In the first half, SDSU used a wide variety of players to force the Bison into poor shots, holding NDSU to only 27 percent from the floor. The Lady Jacks took advantage of sloppy ball handling, and late first half foul trouble by the Bison, to hold a 17-point lead at the end of the half.

The Bison stormed out of the locker room on fire. NDSU went on an 11-0 run, with Lisa Bue making back-to back buckets, cutting the Jacks lead to seven with 13:15 left in the game. The Jackrabbits then stepped on the gas, leaving the Bison deep in the rear view mirror.

The Jacks went on a 23-0 run, and never looked back. Vogel sparked the run with a clutch 3-pointer. After the three, Vogel hit her chest, indicating she was king of the court on her senior night. Less than a minute later, Vogel drained another long-distance bomb, in which she gave several fist pumps, relishing her last regular game season at Frost Arena. Vogel finished the game with 17 points to lead the Jacks. After Vogel’s consecutive 3-pointers, a time-out was called, and a standing ovation occurred all through the arena. The students showed their love for Vogel by chanting one of their many “thank you Megan” cheers, and one male student even asked Vogel for a date while she was waiting to enter the game.

Personal and team highs were established during the last home game of the season. Ketty Cornermann tied a career high with 14 points and Courtney Grimsrud had a career high 16 rebounds and recorded her first career double-double. A season-high attendance was set with 4,132.

A team high in tears took place by the SDSU players as well. Tears flowed in the pre-game, post-game and also when Vogel made her final curtain call at the end of the game. At the 2:32 mark, Vogel left the court and every seat was vacated. The SDSU faithful gave Vogel her final salute. Vogel gave a hug to Johnston, the other assistant coaches and all of the players on the bench.

“To say that the team is just a basketball team is an understatement. It is a family,” Vogel proclaimed. “I have been just blessed to part of this family (with tears in her eyes). It’s just been amazing to play here. There are just so many people that have enriched my life.”