Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Augustana (Exhibition) on October 29, 2025 at 6 p.m.
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6 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Augustana (Exhibition)
South Dakota State University Athletics
Jacks open homestand with ASU
12/15/2010 10:53:00 AM | Women's Basketball
With final exams in full swing, the South Dakota State University women's basketball team will attempt to pass a couple difficult tests on its home court this week, starting with a matchup Thursday against Arizona State.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.
After making two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the Jackrabbits have had an up-and-down beginning to their season, entering the week with a 4-5 overall mark, including an 0-1 record in The Summit League. SDSU will be facing its second Pacific-10 Conference opponent in 10 days.
Arizona State, meanwhile, comes into Thursday's matchup on a three-game winning streak and 6-2 overall. The Sun Devils, who qualified for the Women's NIT?last season, return four starters from last year's 16-12 squad.
SDSU concludes its brief homestand Saturday with a 5 p.m. matchup against nationally ranked Iowa.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.
After making two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the Jackrabbits have had an up-and-down beginning to their season, entering the week with a 4-5 overall mark, including an 0-1 record in The Summit League. SDSU will be facing its second Pacific-10 Conference opponent in 10 days.
Arizona State, meanwhile, comes into Thursday's matchup on a three-game winning streak and 6-2 overall. The Sun Devils, who qualified for the Women's NIT?last season, return four starters from last year's 16-12 squad.
SDSU concludes its brief homestand Saturday with a 5 p.m. matchup against nationally ranked Iowa.
THE SERIES: Thursday's game will mark the second meeting between South Dakota State and Arizona State in women's basketball.
ASU won the initial meeting, 73-65, in Tempe, Ariz., on Nov. 15, 2009, behind 18 points from Becca Tobin and the 12-point, 13-rebound performance by Kayli Murphy. Danielle Orsillo added 12 points and five assists for the Sun Devils in their season opener.
Kristin Rotert led the Jackrabbits with 14 points, making 3-of-5 three-point attempts. Jennie Sunnarborg added 11 points in only 12 minutes of action.
VERSUS THE PAC-10: Since moving to the Division I level at the start of the 2004-05 season, the Jackrabbit women's basketball team has turned in a 4-3 overall record against Pacific-10 Conference opponents. SDSU recorded a pair of victories against Oregon during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, as well as a victory against Southern California during the 2006-07 campaign to go along with last week's win at Washington State. Jackrabbit losses have come against USC?(2004-05), Oregon State (2004-05) and Arizona State (2009-10).
JACKRABBITS ONLINE: Audio and video coverage of Thursday's game is scheduled to be available through the Jackrabbit Extra subscription service at GoJacks.com, the official website of SDSU athletics. Monthly subscriptions are $4.95 for audio only and $11.95 for both video and audio. A pay-per-view option also is available for $4.95 at the following web address: https://www.nmnathletics.com/PremiumVideo.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15000
Radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. Central Time on the Jackrabbit Sports Network, with Tyler Merriam calling the play-by-play and former assistant coach Laurie Melum providing color commentary. Network stations carrying Thursday's game include WNAX 570 AM in Yankton, KJJQ?910 AM in Brookings, KGFX 1060 AM?in Pierre, KRKI 99.5 FM in Rapid City and KWAT?950 AM in Watertown.
JACKRABBIT INSIDER: Throughout the 2010-11 women's basketball season, head coach Aaron Johnston will be a guest on the "Jackrabbit Insider," a weekly behind-the-scenes look at South Dakota State University athletics.
The half-hour television show which features interviews with Jackrabbit coaches and student-athletes, airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on Sioux Falls-based KTTW?FOX?7. The show is also broadcast on FOX Sports North at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and on FOX?College Sports Central at 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Online, the show can be viewed at GoJacks.com.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: The women's basketball game between South Dakota State and Arkansas-Little Rock slated for Jan. 4 in Little Rock has been dropped from the teams' 2010-11 schedules due to a scheduling conflict. The Jackrabbits and UALR have agreed to play a home-and-home series during the 2011-12 season.
UALR and South Dakota State originally signed a contract in May which would bring South Dakota State to Little Rock during the 2010-11 season, and have the Trojans make a trip to Brookings. in 2011-12. At that time, the Trojans were scheduled to play at Denver on Saturday, Jan. 1. In August, Denver moved the game to Sunday, Jan. 2 because of scheduling conflicts, and UALR and South Dakota State had been working to reschedule their matchup since that time.
The JackrabbitS' first action of the new year now will take place Saturday, Jan. 8, when SDSU hosts Oral Roberts (Okla.) in a rematch of last season's Summit League championship game.
MID-MAJOR POLL: For the first time this season, the South Dakota State University women's basketball team is not ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25. However, the Jackrabbits are the top team receiving votes in the weekly poll.
Wisconsin-Green Bay earned 17 first-place votes and 754 points to remain in the top spot in the balloting conducted among mid-major women's basketball head coaches. Bowling Green (Ohio) received 11 first-place votes to place second in the poll with 751 points.
Two SDSU opponents are currently ranked in the mid-major top 25: Middle Tennessee is ranked sixth and Illinois State checks in at No. 10.
Summit League rivals Oakland, as well as recent non-conference opponent Northern Iowa also are receiving votes.
TOUGH AT HOME: For the first time since Aaron Johnston's first full season as head coach — 2000-01 — the Jackrabbit women's basketball team during the 2009-10 season lost more than one home game.
In his tenure as Jackrabbit head coach, Johnston has led the Jackrabbits to a 131-15 record (.897 winning percentage) at Frost Arena, including a 75-7 mark (.915 winning pct.) at home during the Division I era. The Jackrabbits have put together winning streaks of 15, 15 and 22 in the process. SDSU's latest home winning streak was snapped at 11 games with its loss to North Dakota State on Dec. 4.
 Since the start of the 2001-02 season, SDSU has a 120-10 home record (.923 winning percentage), losing an average of just one game at Frost Arena each full season. The Jackrabbits capped the 2008-09 regular season with a 14-0 record — a mark that stands as the first undefeated home season in school history.
A loss to Western Kentucky early in the 2009-10 campaign snapped a 35-game
regular season home winning streak, as well as a 15-game overall winning streak that began after SDSU lost to Creighton (Neb.) in the first round of the 2008 Women's NIT.
SDSU's loss to Oral Roberts on Jan. 4, 2010, marked its first home loss to a Summit League opponent. The Jackrabbits are 26-2 at Frost Arena against Summit League foes since joining the league in 2007-08.
BENCH POINTS: A young group of Jackrabbit reserves has held its own through the first quarter of the season. In two games last week, SDSU bench players accounted for 40 of the team's 72 points in a victory at Washington State on Dec. 7, and 27 of 60 points at Northern Iowa on Dec. 11. Jackrabbit reserves have outscored their counterparts four times this season, including each of the last three games.
COACH AARON JOHNSTON: Now in his 11th 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 enters Thursday's matchup against Arizona State with a career record of 251-81 (.756 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, against Centenary (La.) and No. 250 on Nov. 24, 2010, versus Illinois State. His career totals have included a 47-8 record (.855 winning percentage) in Summit League regular season games and a 16-6 mark (.727 winning percentage) in postseason games.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits close out the homestand Saturday with a 5 p.m. contest against nationally ranked Iowa.
SDSU will conclude the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule with a matinee at Utah State on Monday, Dec. 20. Tipoff is slated for noon Mountain Time (1 p.m. Central) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
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