The South Dakota State women’s basketball team heads back onto the road for its final two away games of the regular season against Western Illinois (Thursday) and St. Thomas (Saturday). 

The Jackrabbits (17-8, 13-1) came off two wins at home last week against Denver and Omaha to push their winning streak to nine games. They defeated Denver last Thursday 79-52, led by Myah Selland’s 25 points. The Jacks followed that up with a 77-62 win over Omaha. Paige Meyer and Paiton Burckhard each scored 16 points apiece. 

“I feel really good about how we played, and this has been a really good three-game stretch here at Frost Arena,” coach Aaron Johnston said. 

Here is what to look for in SDSU’s upcoming games.

The Jacks take on Western Illinois (14-11, 5-8) Thursday in Macomb, ILL.

SDSU is still tied atop the Summit League standings at 13-1 with USD. The Jacks come into the game on a nine-game winning streak, while Western Illinois is 3-7 in their last 10 games. 

The Jacks are third in the league in scoring at 73.0 ppg and only allowing 59.4 ppg. Western Illinois comes into the game with the highest points per game average at 73.9. Their defense. however is second to last in the league, giving up 70.1 points per game. 

Danni Nichols is the leading scorer for the Leathernecks averaging 16.8 points per game. 

JD Gravina is in his 11th season as the head coach at Western Illinois. They sit in seventh place in the conference with a record of 5-8. 

SDSU is led by freshman guard Paige Meyer with 10.9 points per game. Selland is averaging 12.4 ppg in 18 games played this season for the Jacks. 

Burckhard leads the way in rebounding with 5.2 per game, while Meyer leads in assists with 4.2 per game. 

The last time these two teams met was Jan. 22 in Brookings, where SDSU dominated all game and won by a final score of 114-50. Meyer led all scorers with 19 points. 

SDSU’s second game of the week will come on Saturday as they travel to St. Paul, Minnesota to take on St. Thomas. 

These two teams last played against each other back on January 20th when SDSU won 88-47. SDSU shot well over 60% and 71.4% from 3-point range. 

St. Thomas is on a 10-game losing streak and only 3-11 in the conference. They are second to last in the league in scoring at 59.0 points per game. Their defense is middle of the pack allowing 67.4 points per game.

The Tommies are led in scoring by freshman guard Jade Hill who averages 14.0 points per game. She also leads the team in assists with 3 per game. 

Head Coach Ruth Sinn is coaching in her 17th season at St. Thomas. Sinn and her team has struggled in their first season in the Summit League with their record 6-18 overall and only three wins in the conference.