Battle for the Top Spot

Saturday, January 21

Brookings, S.D.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

1/20/2017 8:44:00 AM | Women's Basketball

GAME 20: South Dakota State [15-4, 6-1] vs. Western Illinois [15-5, 5-1]

When	Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 l 2 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena l Brookings, S.D.
TV	Midco Sports Network l Tom Nieman (play-by-play) and Brad Newitt (color)
Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network l WNAX 570 AM l Jackrabbit All-Access l Scotty Kwas
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
SDSU Links	Game Notes
WIU Links	Game Notes
Summit League Links	Weekly Notes l Website
Social Media	Twitter l #EarsUp

The highest-scoring offense and the toughest defense in The Summit League will battle to stay atop The Summit League standings when South Dakota State plays Western Illinois Saturday at 2 p.m. in the friendly confines of Frost Arena.

Saturday's game will be broadcast live on the Midco Sports Network with Tom Nieman (play-by-play) and Brad Newitt (color). The game can also be heard live on The Jackrabbit Sports Network with Scotty Kwas on WNAX 570 AM.

The Jackrabbits enter the game ranked No. 6 in Tuesday's CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll while the Fighting Leathernecks received 17 votes.

SDSU is in a two-way tie for first in The Summit League standings at 6-1 and with a 15-4 overall record.

The Jackrabbits improved to 7-3 and 3-1 on the road this season with a 72-63 win at Denver Wednesday. Madison Guebert scored a career-high 32 points while Ellie Thompson recorded 22 points.

Western Illinois has a 5-1 league record and is 15-4 overall. It was idle this week after defeating North Dakota State, 110-81, Jan. 14. The win was their fourth straight.

Saturday's game is the 20th meeting between the Jackrabbits and the Fighting Leathernecks. State leads the all-time series, 18-1, has won the last 18 games in the series and is 9-0 in Frost Arena vs. Western Illinois.

Noteworthy

South Dakota State is on a five-game winning streak, the longest since winning five in a row between Feb. 27 and Mar. 19, 2016.
SDSU is 463-116 (.799) all-time in home games, including 72-7 (.911) in home Summit League games. It has won its last nine home league games and is 41-2 (.953) in the last five seasons.
State has won 413 of its last 500 home encounters, good for a remarkable .826 winning percentage.
The Jackrabbits are 237-81 (.745) in all-time games since joining The Summit League in 2007-08.
The Jacks have won 44 of their last 52 league games, dating to a 63-57 win over IUPUI Jan. 9, 2014.
Of its eight Summit League opponents in the last 10 years, SDSU has five losses to IUPUI, four to South Dakota, two to North Dakota State and one each to Denver, Fort Wayne and Western Illinois. The most losses have been to Oral Roberts (6).
SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston, who won his 400th game Dec. 11, enters Saturday's game with a 407-137 (.748) overall record and a 133-26 (.836) league mark.

Jackrabbits in Mid-Major Poll

After spending the first four weeks of the season atop the CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll, South Dakota State was sixth in Tuesday's poll.
SDSU has been ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll 93 of the last 94 weeks.
With its 26 first-place votes in the preseason poll, 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.

A Quick Glance at South Dakota State

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

            Alexis Alexander, point guard
            Madison Guebert, guard
            Kerri Young, guard
            Ellie Thompson, forward
            Clarissa Ober, center

The starting lineup is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in league play this season.
SDSU has had three different starting lineups after the Jackrabbits' leading scoring Macy Miller (Dec. 9) and leading rebounder Clarissa Ober (Dec. 21, return Jan. 11) suffered injuries that forced them from the starting five.
Guebert is currently SDSU's leading scorer, averaging 15.1 points per game. Young (12.7) and Thompson (12.2) are the other Jacks averaging double digits in scoring.
SDSU averages 69 points per game. Four different Jackrabbits have led the team in scoring this season.
State has held 14 of its 19 opponents to 65-or-fewer points, including five to less than 50.
There have been at least three Jackrabbits scoring in double digits in 13 of 19 games.
On the boards, Thompson is SDSU's leading rebounder, grabbing 6.8 caroms an outing. Ober averages 6.5 caroms a game. The Jackrabbits are outrebounding opponents by 3.5 caroms.
The Jackrabbits' top 3-point threat is Guebert, who is sinking 3.2 treys per game and shooting 44.3 percent.
Young is the Jacks' top playmaker, dishing 3.2 assists per game.
The Jacks have a plus-1.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
SDSU is shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 33.4 percent from 3-point range and 74.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Glance at Western Illinois

Western Illinois is off to its best start since 2007-08 when it finished the season 12-6 and tied for second in The Summit League standings.
The Fighting Leathernecks are 6-4 overall and 2-1 in league play on the road. They slipped by Omaha Jan. 11, 78-74 in their last road outing.
WIU is led offensively by junior Emily Clemens. The point guard is averaging 18.8 points per game. She ranks second overall and ninth in the league (16.7) in scoring. The Fighting Leathernecks are averaging a league-leading 81.6 points per game overall and 79.7 ppg in league games.
Florida Gulf Coast transfer Morgan Blumer and sophomore guard Taylor Higginbotham are also averaging double digits, scoring 16.9 and 14.7 points per game, respectively.
Higginbotham averages a team-leading 5.6 rebounds. The Fighting Leathernecks are outrebounding opponents by 1.3 caroms a game.
Clemens leads The Summit League and ranks 15th in the NCAA, dishing 6.6 assists per game. She also makes 2.9 steals per game.
Toledo transfer Olivia Braun tops The Summit League with 51 blocks (2.68) on the season and averages 4.0 per game in league games. She ranks 17th in the NCAA in blocks per game.
Blumer is Western Illinois' top 3-point threat, sinking 48 3-pointers and shooting 37.2 percent overall.
WIU has seven players averaging 5-or-more points and eight averaging 10-or-more minutes per game.
The Fighting Leathernecks are shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from 3-point range and 78.1 percent from the free-throw line.

Breaking Down the Western Illinois Series

Saturday's game will be the 20th meeting between SDSU and Western Illinois. The Jacks lead the series 18-1 and have won the last 18 games after dropping the first game of the series, 67-60, Jan. 14, 2008, in Macomb, Ill.
The Jackrabbits swept the regular-season series last year. They won 85-63 Jan. 23 in Frost Arena and slipped by Western Illinois, 66-65, Feb. 27 in Macomb.
There has been one 100-point game in the series. The Jackrabbits won 101-61, Feb. 27, 2012.

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-