The South Dakota State women’s basketball season is officially underway after winning their season opener 55-42 in Frost Arena Monday night.
The Jackrabbits welcomed SDSU fans and students back to start their 2023-24 season against the Arkansas State Red Wolves in front of a crowd of 2,209.
Following the tip, the Jacks trailed the Red Wolves 7-3 before going on a 14-0 run to put them back on top to end the first quarter. Paige Meyer started off hot scoring 7 of the Jackrabbits first 8 points. The run gained SDSU a 5-point advantage, but they were unable to hold that lead heading into the second half falling behind 22-24.
“I liked what we did on offense,” head coach Aaron Johnston said. “I think we do have to be more efficient and certainly take more shots, but we’re in a place where we can keep building and growing there.”
Returning in the second half, the Jackrabbits quickly responded scoring the first 5 points of the third quarter to push them back into that leading position closing the third 35-31.
The game continued to be a back-and-forth battle throughout, but the Jacks expanded the gap to a 10-point game within the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Brooklyn Meyer secured a layup. SDSU held the Red Wolves scoreless to finish out the game with a victory over Arkansas State.
“I think the story for us was just the effort we played with, particularly on the defensive end, and it was fun to see,” Johnston said.
Paige Meyer led the Jacks with 18 points on the night adding four assists to her stat line and going 2-2 from behind the arc. Brooklyn Meyer tallied 15 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and four blocks to notch a double-double.
“We focus on our defense because our offense maybe wasn’t really there right away,” junior guard Paige Meyer said. “But coach is telling us when you have that shot, be confident and take it. You kind of saw that at the end, we hit some big three’s there, made some big plays down low, so I think confidence was a big key there.”
Tori Nelson and Madysen Vlastuin combined for 12 points contributing to the Jacks win, along with Mesa Byom’s four rebounds and pair of blocks. In her collegiate debut, Jenna Hopp finished with five rebounds and three points.
“There’s a difference between practice and game,” Johnston said. “There’s a difference between the risk and reward, the winning and losing. It’s going to take game experience for this team to really build that confidence that we’re talking about.”
South Dakota State will now head to Madison, Wis. to take on the Badgers at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.
