It All Begins Friday

Friday, November 11

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Creighton

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

11/8/2016 10:45:00 AM | Women's Basketball

GAME 1: South Dakota State [0-0] vs. Creighton [0-0]

When	Friday, Nov. 11, 2016 l 7 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena I Brookings, S.D.
TV	GoJacks.com/watch
Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 104.1 FM I Jackrabbit All-Access I Scotty Kwas
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
SDSU Links	Game Notes
Creighton Links	Game Notes
Summit League Links	Weekly Notes I Website
Social Media	Twitter I #EarsUp

Coming off its 7th NCAA appearance, 10th consecutive postseason trip and 19th 20-win season, the South Dakota State women's basketball team opens its 51st basketball campaign Friday when it hosts Big East member Creighton in the friendly confines of Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits, 27-7 last season, defeated Minnesota Crookston, 89-49, Oct. 27 and Dakota Wesleyan, 78-45, Nov. 3 in exhibition games.
Creighton won its lone exhibition game, defeating Fort Hays State, 90-56, Nov. 3.

Noteworthy

The Jackrabbits are protecting a six-game home winning streak, 34th-longest in the NCAA. The last time the Jacks lost in Frost Arena was Jan. 17, 2016, to South Dakota, 63-58.
SDSU is looking for its third consecutive season-opening win Friday. Last season, the Jacks beat Marist, 77-68.
Both the Jackrabbits and the Bluejays were picked to win their respective leagues and are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches preseason polls.
South Dakota State was ranked first in the espnW preseason mid-major poll Nov. 3.
Friday's game is the ninth meeting between South Dakota State and Creighton. The Jacks beat the Bluejays last year in Omaha, 53-51. State's other win in the series came in the 2014 WNIT, winning 81-62.
SDSU is 6-15 against teams from the BIG EAST Conference and is 60-50 vs. teams from Nebraska.

Opening Success

The Jackrabbits are 44-6 in season openers, including 42-8 all-time at home. They are also 10-2 vs. Division I opponents.
The last time SDSU lost a home opener was Nov. 14, 2012, to Creighton, 63-54.

Poll Positions

South Dakota State debuted in this season's Associated Press and USA Today Sports Coaches preseason Top 25 polls. It received 5 votes in the AP poll and 28 votes in the Coaches poll.
The last time the Jacks were ranked in either preseason poll was Nov. 9, 2009.
The Jackrabbits' votes are the first since the Jackrabbits received votes in the Jan. 11, 2016, AP poll and April 6, 2016, Coaches polls.
The highest SDSU has ever been ranked is 16th in the AP poll March 9, 2009, and 14th in the Coaches poll March 2, 2009.

Jackrabbits in Mid-Major Poll

South Dakota State is ranked first in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major preseason poll going into the season opener.
With its 26 first-place votes, SDSU is the first team in The Summit League history to earn a top national preseason ranking.
The Jackrabbits were ranked first in the final 2015-16 poll, their highest-ever ranking.

Newcomers Could Make Debut

With two true freshmen seeing time in SDSU's two exhibition games, rookies Sydney Tracy and Megan Bultsma could make their collegiate debuts Friday.
The last rookie to start a season opener was sophomore Madison Guebert last season. She had 11 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in 27 minutes of action at guard.
How did some other Jackrabbits do in their first career game? Macy Miller had 10 points and a pair of rebounds. Megan Waytashek was held scoreless, but had three rebounds and two assists. Megan Vogel had nine points and nine rebounds while the Jacks' all-time leading scorer, Shannon Schlagel, had 6 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.

A Quick Glance at South Dakota State

Seventeenth-year head coach Aaron Johnston's probable starters for the second consecutive year are:

            - Macy Miller, point guard
            - Madison Guebert, guard
            - Kerri Young, guard
            - Ellie Thompson, forward
            - Clarissa Ober, forward

In the two exhibition games, four Jackrabbits averaged double digits in scoring. Thompson led the team, averaging 14.5 points per game and shot 55 percent (11-20) from the field. Miller scored at a 13.5-point clip and dished 3.5 assists per game. Ober grabbed a team-best 6.5 rebounds while averaging 13 points per game. Guebert was one of three Jackrabbits to shoot 50 percent-or-higher from the field. She averaged 12.5 points per game and sank 7 of 13 3-pointers (53.8).
The Jackrabbits shot 40.4 percent from the field, 31.1 percent from 3-point range and 75.6 percent from the free-throw line while scoring 83.5 points per game and giving up 47 in their two exhibition wins.

Creighton

Creighton returns all five starters from the 2015-16 season when it finished 17-18 and played in the WNIT.
In addition to its starting five from 2015-16, the Bluejays welcome back sixth-year senior Marissa Janning after missing a majority of last season with an injury. The two-time All-BIG EAST first-team honoree averaged a league-leading 17.6 points per game in 2014-15. The point guard also dished 3.9 assists per game and shot 41 percent from long range.
Sophomore Audrey Faber led the Bluejays in scoring and rebounding last year, averaging 13.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-2 forward also collected 37 blocks and sank 41.5 percent (68-164) of her 3-point shots.
Sydney Lamberty (8.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Jade Owens (7.1 ppg, 3.4 apg) and Bailey Norby (4.0 ppg) are also back.
Last season, the Bluejays kept the scoring low, averaging 64.9 points and limiting opponents to 62.1 points per game.

The Creighton Series

Friday's game marks the ninth meeting between the Jackrabbits and the Bluejays.
Creighton holds a 6-2 series lead. The Jacks are 1-3 vs. the Bluejays in Frost Arena.
SDSU had its 22-game home winning streak snapped by the Bluejays Nov. 8, 2015, with an 88-81 loss in Frost.
South Dakota State won last year's game, 53-51, in Omaha.

For more information on the South Dakota State women's basketball team, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksWBB) or like South Dakota State women's basketball on Facebook.

-GoJacks.com-