VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO) — The SDSU women’s basketball team secured the outright Summit League regular season championship with a victory over in-state rival USD on Saturday.
The Jackrabbit offense continued their success with a 79-48 win over USD. SDSU racked up 21 assists, which led to four players scoring in double figures.
“There’s just so many people that can score on the team. And they play really unselfish. You don’t see the ball get stuck with us. You know, the ball continues to move, and that makes it hard for other teams to guard us,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said.
The SDSU defense was impressive as well Saturday, as USD converted on just three field goals and nine points in the first half.
“We just take a lot of pride in our defense, and we just know that our defense, getting stops on defense, will turn into offense, so you know, our main focus is always getting stops on defense,” SDSU guard Paige Meyer said.
“We have got to take how they played and really learn what it’s going to take to be that tougher team and to be the more physical team. And the only way you learn that is by playing these guys a couple of times and really getting the feel for what it takes to try and score against them,” USD head coach Kayla Karius said.
SDSU is now 14-0 in the Summit League and has secured its fourth league title in the last five years, an accomplishment months in the making.
“We don’t ever take that for granted. Winning a championship over a long period of time means you have to do a lot of things right,” Johnston said.
As for the Yotes, they fall to 7-7, though they’re just one game out of second place in the league standings.
“By no means does this define our season, define the end of our season. We have to grow. We have got to keep getting better. I do think the one thing our team has shown is just this great attitude for wanting to get better,” Karius said.
SDSU returns to Brookings on Thursday as they host Denver. USD will welcome in Omaha.
