The South Dakota State women’s basketball team continues its win streak after taking the University of North Dakota down in a thrilling game bringing home five consecutive wins. The Jacks are sitting at the top of the conference with a record of 5-0 and an overall record of 15-3. Senior Paige Meyer was all about finding open teammates with 10 assists.
“We got a lot of great players on our team,” said Paige Meyer in a press conference post-game. “I’m out there just trying to find anyone that’s open and I know everyone can knock the shot down, so yeah, just looking for open teammates.”
Paige wasn’t just looking for her teammates she also contributed to the boards with 11 points and two rebounds.
“I thought Paige controlled the game, she played very well, ten assists and just seemed very poised and made a lot of plays,” women’s basketball coach Aaron Johnston regarding Paige Meyer’s performance. Brooklyn Meyer had hot hands and could not be stopped near the rim with 30 points.
“Obviously Brooklyn was an enormous factor, 30 points and so efficient down there [in the paint],” said Johnston.
Not only did Brooklyn have high success near the rim she also grabbed three boards and had two assists.
“Early we defended really well,” said Johnston, reflecting on the South Dakota State defense throughout the game. “2nd quarter I thought we lost a little bit of our edge, 3rd quarter I think we came out with an idea to be better but we just started fouling…making it easier for them than we needed to.”
Even though the Jacks struggled defensively in this game they still pulled out the win and Brooklyn Meyer notes it’s nice to have close games like this.
“We’re always trying to put together our best complete game of basketball,” said Brookyln Meyer. “Not every game is going to be perfect, we have to learn how to deal with the highs and lows… games like this are good for us to have.”
On top of that, Coach AJ recognizes the challenges they have when they play tough teams and expects challenges from every team in their upcoming schedule.
“We’ve always had some challenges, we’ve played well and have had some close games… won a close game at Oral Roberts and here today [game against UND], I’m assuming we’re going to get some of that at St.Thomas and USD, I think our team has responded well.”
Looking forward to the Jacks’ schedule, they will face their in-state rival, the University of South Dakota in an exciting match on the road. The last time the Jacks and Coyotes went head-to-head was in the semi-finals of the Summit League Tournament last season where the Jacks defeated the Coyotes 76- 63, pushing them toward the championship game. With high anticipation, South Dakota State is looking to defeat the Coyotes furthering their win streak. This intense rivalry battle will be held in Vermillion on Saturday with a tip-off time slated for 1 p.m. at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.