Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus No. 6 Washington on March 20, 2026 , Loss , 54, to, 72
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FINAL
Women's Basketball
54
vs No. 6 Washington
72
South Dakota State University Athletics
Jackrabbits return to Junkanoo Jam
11/25/2009 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The South Dakota State University women's basketball team will make what has become almost an annual trip to a tropical location over the Thankgsiving holiday, playing two games in the Bahamas this week.
The Jackrabbits, 1-3 overall, will face Charlotte (N.C.) in the opening game of the Junkanoo Jam Thursday. The Thanksgiving Day game is scheduled for a noon Eastern Time (11 a.m. Central) start in Freeport, Bahamas. SDSU is one of four teams to compete in the Reef Division of the Junkanoo Jam.
Charlotte, which reached the NCAA Tournament last season, also is 1-3 this season following a 57-44 loss at Duke (N.C.) earlier this week.
The tournament wraps up Friday with SDSU facing either Indiana or nationally ranked Virginia. Thursday's losers will play at 5:45 p.m. ET, with the championship game slated for 8 p.m. ET.
Virginia is 3-1, with its lone loss coming on Nov. 22 to Tennessee. Likewise, Indiana is off to a 3-1 start despite losing its last outing Nov. 22 to Missouri.
The Jackrabbits, 1-3 overall, will face Charlotte (N.C.) in the opening game of the Junkanoo Jam Thursday. The Thanksgiving Day game is scheduled for a noon Eastern Time (11 a.m. Central) start in Freeport, Bahamas. SDSU is one of four teams to compete in the Reef Division of the Junkanoo Jam.
Charlotte, which reached the NCAA Tournament last season, also is 1-3 this season following a 57-44 loss at Duke (N.C.) earlier this week.
The tournament wraps up Friday with SDSU facing either Indiana or nationally ranked Virginia. Thursday's losers will play at 5:45 p.m. ET, with the championship game slated for 8 p.m. ET.
Virginia is 3-1, with its lone loss coming on Nov. 22 to Tennessee. Likewise, Indiana is off to a 3-1 start despite losing its last outing Nov. 22 to Missouri.
THE SERIES: The Thanksgiving Day matchup between South Dakota State and Charlotte will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools in women's basketball.
SDSU has faced one other Atlantic-10 Conference team since moving to Division I at the start of the 2004-05 season. The Jackrabbits dropped a 65-60 decision at nationally ranked George Washington during the 2007-08 campaign.
The Jackrabbits faced each of Friday's potential opponents during the 2006-07 season, earning victories over both Indiana and Virginia. SDSU's 62-55 victory over Virginia came in the opening round of the 2006 Junkanoo Jam. Megan Vogel led SDSU with 15 points, followed by 12 from Jennifer Warkenthien and 10 by Courtney Grimsrud. Lyndra Littles posted a double-double for Virginia with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
SDSU holds a 1-1 record against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, dropping a 68-56 decision to Maryland last season at the Cancun Challenge.
The Jackrabbits' victory against Indiana came in the third round of the Women's NIT postseason tournament in March of 2007. SDSU overcame a 31-28 halftime deficit to post a 60-53 victory and advance to the WNIT quarterfinals. Vogel again led the way for SDSU with 14 points, while Andrea Verdegan tallied 12 points and Warkenthien contributed 10 points. Nikki Smith led four Hoosiers in double figures with 12 points.
SDSU has compiled a 6-2 record against Big Ten opponents, sweeping games against Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota last season.
JACKRABBITS ONLINE: Audio coverage of this weekend's game is scheduled to be available via subscription service at GoJacks.com, the official website of SDSU athletics. Monthly subscriptions for the Jackrabbit Extra, which includes live audio and video streaming of most Jackrabbit basketball games, are available for $9.95 per month or $99.95 for an entire year of coverage. An audio-only subscription also is available for $4.95 per month, with programming consisting only of live radio broadcasts.
Free video streaming of the Junkanoo Jam will be available at www.JunkanooJam.com.
Local radio coverage begins a half hour before scheduled tipoff on the Jackrabbit Radio Network, with Tyler Merriam calling the play-by-play. Brookings-based KJJQ 910 AM will serve as the flagship station of the network, with coverage of this week's games also available on WNAX 570 AM.
DIFFICULT SCHEDULE: This week's matchups continue a difficult stretch of non-conference games for the Jackrabbit women's basketball team.
Of SDSU's first nine non-conference games, eight will be against an opponent that played in the postseason a year ago. Seven of those games would be against fellow NCAA Tournament teams should the Jackrabbits meet Virginia in the second round of the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.
Two of SDSU's opponents are currently ranked in the top 25 of either the Associated Press or ESPN/USA Today preseason poll: Arizona State (17/14) and Virginia (15/18). Three other opponents - Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Gonzaga - are receiving votes in this week's polls.
RETURN TO THE TROPICS: SDSU's trip to this week's Junkanoo Jam marks the fourth time in six seasons at the Division I level that the Jackrabbit women's basketball team has played in a tournament located in a tropical destination over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Overall, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 4-4 record in games played outside the United States. Following is a year-by-year look at the results:
2004 Paradise Jam - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
• lost to Rutgers (N.J.), 50-68
• def. Kentucky, 57-55
• lost to Oregon State, 65-68
2006 Junkanoo Jam - Freeport, Bahamas
• def. Virginia, 62-55
• lost to Baylor (Texas), 53-71
2008 Cancun Challenge MTE - Cancun, Mexico
• lost to Maryland, 56-68
• def. Illinois, 62-60
• def. Montana, 64-59
LAST WEEK: The Jackrabbits dropped a pair of close games last week to fall to 1-3 on the young season.
Illinois State 79, SDSU 67
South Dakota State shot a season-best 51 percent from the field, but the Jackrabbit women's basketball team couldn't overcome 25 turnovers in dropping a 79-67 decision at Illinois State on Nov. 19 in Normal, Ill.
Illinois State, the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion, improved to 2-1 on the season. SDSU, which dropped its second game in a row, fell to 1-2.
The Jackrabbits held the upper hand early on as they built a 15-8 lead following a three-pointer by Macie Michelson with 13 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the first half. SDSU continued to get most of its scoring from the perimeter throughout the first half, making 7-of-12 three-point attempts in the opening frame.
Illinois State answered with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 15-all, then put together a 16-6 spurt over the final five minutes of the first half to grab a 37-32 halftime advantage.
SDSU tied the game at 38-all on a Kristin Rotert three-pointer two minutes into the second half. The lead would change change hands five times in the half before Maggie Krick put the Redbirds in the lead for good at 51-49 with a three-pointer with 10:23 to play.
The Redbirds sealed the victory at the free throw line, where they made 19-of-25 attempts in the second half and 28-of-36 tries, 77.8 percent, for the game. SDSU was 14-of-22 at the stripe, 63.6 percent.
Illinois State's Ashleen Bracey led all players with 24 points, while Krick added 19. Hannah Spanich came off the bench to score 15 points. ISU shot 23-of-51 from the field, 45.1 percent, and was 5-for-10 on three-pointers.
Maria Boever led the Jackrabbits with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-for-2 from three-point range. Rotert contributed 15 points, with Jennie Sunnarborg contributing a career-high 12 points in a reserve role.
SDSU ended the night 21-of-41 from the field, including 11-of-23 on three-point attempts.
Illinois State committed only 14 turnovers and also held a 31-25 rebounding advantage, led by Bracey's game-high seven boards. Boever and Rotert each tallied five rebounds to lead SDSU.
Western Kentucky 81, SDSU 74
Amy McNear scored a game-high 28 points in leading Western Kentucky to an 81-74 non-conference victory over South Dakota State in women's basketball action Sunday afternoon at Frost Arena, snapping the Jackrabbits' 15-game home winning streak.
The Lady Toppers improved to 3-0 on the season. SDSU dropped its third consecutive game, falling to 1-3 overall.
The game was a see-saw affair throughout, featuring 11 ties and 18 lead changes. The second half alone contained 11 lead changes.
Western Kentucky built an early six-point lead, 11-5, before the Jackrabbits tied the game on back-to-back three-pointers by Macie Michelson and Kristin Rotert. The tandem of Rotert and Michelson again hit back-to-back threes midway through the first half to give SDSU its biggest lead of the day, 23-17.
Trailing 33-31 with just under two minutes remaining in the first half, the Jackrabbits ended the frame with a 7-0 spurt, highlighted by Michelson's traditional three-point play with 2.7 seconds left that put SDSU up 38-33 heading into the lockerroom.
The Lady Toppers gained the momentum early in the second half, taking the lead momentarily at 41-40 on a Jessica Magley layup. McNear put WKU in the lead for good with 8 minutes, 14 second remaining in the game on a drive to the basket.
SDSU stayed within reach, but couldn't come up with the big defensive stop when necessary. Jill Young hit a three-pointer with 4:54 to play to pull the Jackrabbits back to within two, 65-63, but McNear answered with a jumper seconds later to stem the tide.
WKU made its final 12 free throw attempts of the second half to secure the victory and also shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field in the final 20 minutes. For the game, the Lady Toppers were 28-of-61 from the field, 45.9 percent, including 2-for-10 on three-pointers. At the line, WKU was 23-of-27, 85.2 percent.
McNear finished the game 11-of-17 from the field and 6-of-7 at the line, while also contributing five assists and five rebounds. Arnika Brown posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Courtney Clifton and Dominique Duck each tallied 10 points.
SDSU was led by Rotert's 16 points. Michelson finished with 13 points, followed by Maria Boever with 11. Boever finished off her second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds as the Jackrabbits held a 38-36 rebounding advantage, including 17 on the offensive end. Ketty Cornemann rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Jackrabbits with 10 points.
The Jackrabbits ended the day 21-of-58 from the field, 36.2 percent, including 7-of-24 from three-point range. At the line, SDSU made 25-of-31 attempts, 80.6 percent.
PRESEASON FAVORITES: The South Dakota State University women's basketball team is a near-unanimous pick to repeat as Summit League champions, as selected by the annual preseason poll of league coaches, sports information directors and media, which was released in October.
The Jackrabbits, who return four starters, received 25 of the 27 first-place votes to tally 419 points. Oakland University (Mich.), which lost to SDSU in the Summit League Championship last season, earned one first-place vote and finished second in the poll with 365 points. North Dakota State was third with 318 points, while Oral Roberts (Okla.) picked up the other first-place vote to finish fourth with 289 points.
The Summit League opens its 18-game, double round-robin schedule Dec. 5. The Summit League Championship returns to the Sioux Falls Arena March 6-9.
PRESEASON HONORS: Although South Dakota State does not have a player on the preseason all-Summit League First Team, four Jackrabbit players received preseason accolades by being named to the all-league second team: senior forwards Maria Boever and Ketty Cornemann, junior guard/forward Kristin Rotert and sophomore guard Jill Young.
Boever, a 6-foot-1 senior forward from Worthington, Minn., earned honorable mention all-Summit League honors last season after averaging 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures 14 times and added a pair of double-digit rebounding performances.
A 5-11 senior forward, Cornemann earned all-Summit League second-team recognition during the 2008-09 season. One of only two Jackrabbits to start all 35 games, she reached double figures 13 times en route to averaging 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Rotert, a 6-foot junior wing, was another honorable mention all-league performer after averaging 10.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. She ranked second on the team with 60 three-pointers and had the tendency to rise to the occasion in big games, posting double figures for scoring 17 times.
Young, a 5-7 sophomore guard, earned Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year honors and a spot on the Summit League All-Newcomer Team after ranking second on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game. The Mitchell native established a Jackrabbit freshman record with 82 three-pointers.
UMKC guard Chazny Morris was named the Preseason Player of the Year. She was joined on the first team by North Dakota State guard Inger Hodgson, IPFW guard Chelsey Jackson, Oakland guard Melissa Jeltema, Oral Roberts guard/forward Janae Voelker and IUPUI center Julia Whitted.
YOUTHFUL BENCH: While the Jackrabbits return four of their five regular starters from a year ago, SDSU will rely on a number of underclassmen to fill reserve roles this season.
Of the 15 players on the roster, five are true freshmen, one is a redshirt freshman, threeare sophomores, three are juniors and three are seniors.
Reiging Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year Jill Young has again been a consistent scorer for the Jackrabbits so far this season, averaging 9.5 points per game as she has split time between starting and reserve roles.
The Jackrabbits will look for an expanded role for sophomore guard Vanessa Johnson, who missed nearly half the 2008-09 season due to injury. Johnson averaged only 0.6 points per game during the 2008-09 season, but will provide the Jackrabbits with another perimeter shooting threat.
Other returning bench players include senior point guard Alison Anderson (2.0 ppg) and junior forward Jennifer Schuttloffel.
Of the six players in the freshman class, four are from the state of South Dakota. Ashley Eide (Sioux Falls), Tara Heiser (Watertown) and Steph Paluch (Pierre) will fill guard slots, while Katie Lingle (Pierre) will back up in the post. Rounding out the freshman class are Jordan, Minn., native Leah Dietel at forward and redshirt freshman post player Cala Westergard. A native of Charles City, Iowa, Westergard played in her first official game since her junior year of high school in the Nov. 15 matchup at Arizona State. Westergard missed her senior year of high school due to injury.
100 D-I WINS: Since moving up to the NCAA Division I ranks at the start of the 2004-05 season, the Jackrabbits have posted a winning record against D-I opponents. In its first five seasons competing at the Division I level, SDSU has compiled a 103-35 mark (.746 winning percentage) versus D-I opposition. The Jackrabbits have posted victories over 49 different Division I teams representing 17 conferences plus independents.
750 WINS: The Jackrabbits' victory over Texas Christian in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, was the 750th in the women's basketball program's history. Since the modern era of women's basketball at South Dakota State University began with a 6-0 mark during the 1966-67 season, the Jacks have gone on to compile an overall record of 751-333 (.693 winning percentage).
SDSU has a streak of 23 consecutive winning seasons.The Jackrabbits' last losing season was an 11-16 campaign during the 1985-86 season.
OPENING SUCCESS: The Jackrabbits' 75-71 overtime victory against Gonzaga in the 2009-10 season opener on Nov. 13 marked the 17th consecutive season SDSU opened with a win.
The last time the Jackrabbits lost a season opener was during the 1992-93 season, when they fell 74-72 to Moorhead State (Minn.).
TOUGH AT HOME: SDSU's loss to Western Kentucky on Nov. 22, was a rarity during the Aaron Johnston era. In his tenure as Jackrabbit head coach, Johnston has led the Jackrabbits to a 117-13 record (.900 winning percentage) at Frost Arena, including winning 55 of their last 59 home games, putting together winning streaks of 15, 15 and 22 in the process.
Since the start of the 2001-02 season, SDSU has a 107-8 home record, losing just one game at Frost Arena each full season before capping the 2008-09 regular season with a 14-0 record - a mark that stands as the first undefeated home season in school history. The loss to Western Kentucky snapped a 35-game regular season home winning streak, as well as a 15-game overall winning streak that began after the Jackrabbits lost to Creighton (Neb.) in the opening round of the 2008 Women's NIT.
SDSU is undefeated at home in Summit League play, posting an 18-0 record at Frost Arena since joining the league in 2007-08. The Jackrabbits have won their home conference games by an average of 26.7 points.
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION: Despite returning four regular starters from last year's squad, the Jackrabbit women's basketball team has yet to settle on a starting lineup this season. Through the first four games, SDSU has used two different starting lineups, with seven players cracking the starting five. Maria Boever, Macie Michelson and Kristin Rotert have started all four games so far this season
• Gonzaga Cornemann, Sunnarborg, Boever, Michelson, Rotert
• at Arizona State Cornemann, Sunnarborg, Boever, Michelson, Rotert
• at Illinois State Dietel, Boever, Michelson, Young, Rotert
• Western Kentucky Dietel, Boever, Michelson, Young, Rotert
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: South Dakota State senior forward Maria Boever is on pace to become the 27th member of the Jackrabbit 1,000-Point Club this season.
A senior from Worthington, Minn., Boever enters the Junkanoo Jam with 950 career points. She finished as the team's second-leading scorer during her sophomore season in 2007-08 with an average of 12.2 points per game, then ranked fourth last year on a balanced Jackrabbit team with 10 points per game.
Two other Jackrabbit players could reach the 1,000-point plateau later this season: senior Ketty Cornemann and Kristin Rotert. Cornemann has tallied 712 career points, while Rotert has 688 career points.
YOUNG FOR 3: Sophomore guard Jill Young will attempt to build on a strong showing from behind the three-point arc during her first season in a Jackrabbit uniform.
The Mitchell native ranked third among NCAA Division I players during the 2008-09 season by shooting at a 46.1 percent (82-of-178) clip from three-point range. Young's 82 made three-pointers also set a Jackrabbit freshman record, eclipsing the mark of 58 set by Kristin Rotert during the 2007-08 campaign.
Young opened the 2009-10 season by going 3-for-7 (42.9 percent) from long distance against Gonzaga on Nov. 13, en route to scoring 15 points. She is currently shooting 38.1 percent from behind the arc, making 8-of-21 attempts.
ROTERT NEARS TOP 10: Junior wing Kristin Rotert is poised to join the Jackrabbit career top 10 for three-pointers made this weekend.
The Salem native leads the team with nine three-pointers so far this season and upped her career total to 127. She stands in a tie for 12th place with Gwen Greiner (1998-2001) and needs four to pass Brooke Dickmeyer (130 three-pointers from 2002-05) for the 10th spot.
Rotert set a then-freshman record with 58 three-pointers during the 2007-08 season and ranked second on the team with 60 treys last season.
THREE-POINT BARRAGE: As a team, the Jackrabbits ranked fifth among Division I women's basketball teams by making an average of 8.5 three-pointers per game last season.
SDSU tied school and NCAA Tournament single-game records with 16 trifectas in its opening-round win over Texas Christian. The Jackrabbits made 10 or more three-pointers in a game nine times.
The Jackrabbits' 291 three-pointers as a team set a new single-season school record, breaking the mark of 288 set by the 2001-02 squad, which was the first Jackrabbit team to qualify for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Through four games this season, the Jackrabbits have made 31 three-pointers, an average of 7.75 per game, while shooting 36.5 percent (31-of-85) from beyond the arc.
DIETEL MAKES A DIFFERENCE: Freshman Leah Dietel made an immediate impact for the Jackrabbits with solid contributions on both ends of the floor in the Nov. 13 season opener against Gonzaga.
A 6-foot-1 forward from Jordan, Minn., Dietel saw 21 minutes of action off the bench, tallying 12 points and eight rebounds. She contributed two points and five rebounds against Arizona State.
Dietel has started each of the last two games for the Jackrabbits.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS: The Jackrabbit women's basketball team had its streak of winning 36 consecutive games in which it has held a rebounding advantage end in the 81-74 loss Nov. 22 to Western Kentucky. SDSU won the last 10 games of the 2007-08 season, all 25 during the 2008-09 season and the first game of the 2009-10 season in which it held an edge on the boards.
Previously, the last time SDSU lost a game it won the battle of the boards was a 67-60 defeat at Western Illinois on Jan. 14, 2008.
COACH AARON JOHNSTON: Entering his 10th season as head coach of the South Dakota State University women's basketball team, Aaron Johnston has taken the Jackrabbit program to the top of NCAA Division II and is leading SDSU to national prominence at the Division I level.
Johnston currently has compiled a career record of 226-68 (.769 winning percentage), ranking second on the SDSU career victories list behind his predecessor, Nancy Neiber, who compiled a 301-140 record in 16 seasons from 1985-2000. Johnston posted his 200th career victory on Dec. 4, 2008, when the Jackrabbits defeated Centenary (La.) His career totals have included a 33-3 record (.917 winning percentage) in Summit League regular season games and a 16-5 mark (.762 winning percentage) in postseason games.
NEW COACHES: The Jackrabbit coaching staff features three new faces this season with the hirings of Emilee Gusso and Chad Oletzke as full-time assistant coaches and Deb Remmerde as a graduate assistant.
Gusso had been serving as an assistant coach on an interim basis since mid-July. In addition to her on-court duties, Gusso will fill the roles of recruiting coordinator and academic coordinator for the Jackrabbits. Gusso was an assistant coach at Drake (Iowa) the past three seasons, helping guide the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and a WNIT appearance a year later. A 2004 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Gusso previously served as a graduate assistant at SDSU during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, helping guide the Jackrabbits through their first two years of transition to the Division I level.
Oletzke joins the Jackrabbit coaching staff after serving as head women's basketball coach at Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., the past five seasons. During his tenure with the junior college program, Oletzke earned coach of the year honors after lead the Trappers to a Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference championship and a North Sub-Region title. He began coaching at the collegiate level at Southwest Minnesota State University, serving as an assistant women's basketball coach for four years. While with the Mustangs, SMSU posted three 20-win seasons and made two NCAA Division II postseason appearances.
Remmerde moves to the sidelines after a record-setting playing career at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. A four-time first-team All-American and 2008 NAIA Division II Player of the Year, she finished her career as the division's all-time scoring leader with 3,854 points, an average of 28.8 points per game. She established a single-season scoring record with 1,122 points during the 2007-08 season and also set all-time NAIA records for career (95.77 percent) and single-season (97.24 percent) free throw percentage. Her 133 consecutive made free throws are the most in competition at any level - high school to professional, men's or women's). After completing her collegiate playing career in 2008, Remmerde earned a tryout with the WNBA's Houston Comets and briefly played professionally in Germany.
Rounding out the Jackrabbit women's basketball coaching staff is second-year assistant coach Katie Falco.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS: After leading all divisions in team grade-point average each of the three previous seasons, the South Dakota State University women's basketball team was overtaken for the top spot in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll during the 2008-09 season.
With a 3.571 team GPA, the Jackrabbits, coached by Aaron Johnston, still managed a third-place showing in the NCAA Division I rankings and 15th among all divisions, which includes NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior colleges. Indiana State took over the No. 1 spot in Division I with a 3.645 team GPA, earning the top ranking for the third time ( also in 2002-03 and 2004-05). The University of North Dakota ranked second at 3.580.
Dana College (Neb.) led all divisions with a 3.763 team grade-point average.
SDSU was one of seven Division I teams in the WBCA's honor roll to make an NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2008-09 campaign. Only the Jackrabbits, who finished the season with a 32-3 overall record, and Kansas State advanced past the first round.
The Jackrabbits began their run of three consecutive team GPA titles in 2005-06 with a 3.730 GPA. SDSU repeated with a mark of 3.693 in 2006-07 and claimed its third title with a 3.669 team GPA during the 2007-08 academic year. In addition, the Jackrabbits finished second among Division I programs during the 2004-05 season with a 3.567 GPA.
Also during the 2008-09 season, senior Ashlea Muckenhirn and Jennifer Warkenthien earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors, with Warkenthien also being named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Second Team.
Warkenthien later added to her list of awards by being named The Summit League Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Additionally, 12 players on the Jackrabbit roster were recognized as members of the
Academic All-Summit League Team during the 2008-09 campaign, with nine also receiving recognition on the Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence.
SIGNEES: Three Minnesota high school standouts signed a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 11, indicating they will enroll at South Dakota State University in the fall and compete for the Jackrabbit women's basketball team.
The signees include:
• Gabrielle Boever, 5-8, guard, Worthington, Minn.;
• Hannah Strop, 6-0, forward, New Prague, Minn.; and
• Megan Waytashek, 6-0, guard/forward, Lino Lakes, Minn.
Boever enters her fourth season as the starting point guard for a Worthington High School program that has won two conference and two section championships. A three-time all-state selection by the Minnesota Coaches Association and Minnesota Basketball News, as well as a two-time all-state honoree by the Associated Press, Boever reached the 1,000-point plateau as a junior and has averaged 14 points, 4.5 steals and 3.5 assists per game during her prep career. In addition, she played two years with the North Tartan AAU team and one year with the Minnesota Stars AAU program.
Boever follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Maria, who is a senior forward on this year's Jackrabbit squad.
Strop has been a two-time all-conference honoree for a New Prague High School team that has made two state tournament appearances, including a third-place finish last season. She also earned Class 3A second-team all-area honors from the Minnesota Basketball News and was an honorable mention selection to the St. Paul Pioneer Press All-Area Team after averaging 11.0 points and 5.4 rebounds her junior season. Strop also has been a member of the North Tartan AAU team.
In addition, Strop has lettered in volleyball and track and field, earning all-conference honors in volleyball this fall. She also has excelled in the classroom, earning academic all-state honors in volleyball and being selected to the National Honor Society.
Waytashek, who has been ranked among the top 100 players in the 2010 class by ESPN Hoopgurlz, has been a key member of the highly successful girls' basketball program at Centennial High School. Centennial has posted an 81-7 overall record en route to winning three conference titles and turning in a runner-up finish at the Class 4A state tournament last season. An all-conference honoree each of the last two seasons, Waytashek also received honorable mention all-state recognition from the Minnesota Coaches Association as a junior, when she averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. She has been a member of the Minnesota Stars AAU program, as well.
Waytashek also has excelled in volleyball, holding the school record in blocks and ranking second in career kills. Additionally, Waytashek has been a member of her school's Peer Leadership Group and is a member of the National Honor Society.
THE ROSTER: The 2009-10 SDSU women's basketball roster features 15 players from three different states. Of the 15 players, nine are from South Dakota, five are from Minnesota and one is from Iowa. By class, three are seniors, three are juniors, three are sophomores, one is a redshirt freshman and five are incoming freshmen.
A LOOK AHEAD: Upon returning stateside, the Jackrabbits will open Summit League play Dec. 5 at Western Illinois and conclude the road trip Dec. 7 at IUPUI.
SDSU's next home game is Dec. 13 against Middle Tennessee State.
Players Mentioned
PLAYER
/ Women's Cross Country
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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