Battle for First Place at Western Illinois

Wednesday, February 15

Macomb, Ill.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

2/14/2017 3:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

SDSU Game Notes WIU Game Notes

GAME 25: South Dakota State [19-6, 10-3] at Western Illinois [20-6, 10-3]

When	Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 l 7 p.m.
Where	Western Hall l Macomb, Ill.
TV	GoJacks.com
Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network l WNAX 104.1 FM l Jackrabbit All-Access l Brad Peterson
Live Stats	GoJacks.com
SDSU Links	Game Notes
WIU Links	Game Notes
Summit League Links	Weekly Notes l Website
Social Media	Twitter l #EarsUp

The South Dakota State women's basketball team continues its three-game road swing with a stop at Western Illinois Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game in Western Hall.

The Jackrabbits were ranked No. 3 in the Feb. 7 CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll while the Fighting Leathernecks were receiving votes.

SDSU is tied for first in The Summit League standings with Western Illinois. State is 10-3 in the league and is 19-6 overall.

The Jackrabbits dropped to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the league on the road with a 64-59 loss at IUPUI Feb. 11. Kerri Young led all scorers with 21 points for her fourth 20-plus point game of the season.

Western Illinois improved to 20-6 overall and 10-3 in The Summit League with an 80-68 win at Denver Feb. 11.

SDSU is second (58.2) in The Summit League-only games in scoring defense while WIU leads the league in scoring (78.2).

Wednesday's game is the 21st meeting between the Jackrabbits and the Fighting Leathernecks. State leads the all-time series, 19-1, has won the last 19 games in the series and is 8-1 in Western Hall.

Noteworthy

With a win Wednesday, the Jackrabbits will record their 20th overall and 6th consecutive 20-win season.
SDSU also has double-digit Summit League victories in all 10 seasons in the league.
Senior Clarissa Ober is averaging 12.2 points and 9.0 rebounds in the last five games and three others are in double figures in scoring.
Kerri Young, Madison Guebert and Ellie Thompson have each scored 10-or-more points in at least 11 of the 13 Summit League games.
The Jackrabbits have limited their last five opponents to 55.8 points per game, outscoring them by 15.8 points per outing and outrebounding their foes by 7.0 caroms.
South Dakota State sports a 7-5 overall road record and is 3-3 in Summit League play. The Jacks won at Denver, Oral Roberts and North Dakota State, but lost at South Dakota, Omaha and IUPUI.
South Dakota State is 59-21 (.737) all-time in Summit League road games and has won 10 of its last 16 road contests. Last year, it went 6-2 in league road contests.
The Jackrabbits are 241-83 (.743) in all-time games since joining The Summit League in 2007-08.
The Jacks have won 48 of their last 58 league games, dating to a 63-57 win over IUPUI Jan. 9, 2014.
State swept regular-season series with North Dakota State and Oral Roberts. It split series with IUPUI, Omaha and South Dakota.
Of its nine Summit League opponents in the last 10 years, SDSU has six losses to IUPUI and Oral Roberts, four to South Dakota, two to North Dakota State and one each to Denver, Fort Wayne, Omaha and Western Illinois.
SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston, who won his 400th game Dec. 11, enters Wednesday's game with a 411-139 (.747) overall record and a 137-28 (.830) 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 third in the Feb. 7 poll. SDSU has been ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll 95 of the last 96 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 ninth consecutive game are:

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

The starting lineup is 8-3 overall and 6-2 in league play this season.
SDSU has had three 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 15.0 points per game. Young (13.6) and Thompson (12.8) are the other Jacks averaging double digits in scoring.
SDSU averages 69.9 points per game. Four Jackrabbits have led the team in scoring this season.
State has held 19 of its 25 opponents to 65-or-fewer points, including seven to less than 50.
There have been at least three Jackrabbits scoring in double digits in 18 of 25 games.
On the boards, Ober is SDSU's leading rebounder, grabbing 7.3 caroms an outing. The Jackrabbits are outrebounding opponents by 4.1 caroms.
The Jackrabbits' top 3-point threat is Guebert, who is sinking 2.9 treys per game and shooting 43.0 percent.
Young is the Jacks' top playmaker, dishing 3.2 assists per game.
The Jacks have a plus-1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
SDSU is shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 32.9 percent from 3-point range and 75.3 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 10-1 overall and 4-1 in league play at home. They are on a five-game winning streak overall, last losing to IUPUI at home Jan. 25, 76-72.
WIU is led offensively by junior Emily Clemens. The point guard is averaging 18.7 points per game. She ranks first overall and third in the league (17.6) in scoring. The Fighting Leathernecks are averaging a league-leading 80.3 points per game overall and 78.2 ppg in league games.
Florida Gulf Coast transfer Morgan Blumer and sophomore guard Taylor Higginbotham are also averaging double digits, scoring 16.9 and 14.8 points per game, respectively. Blumer leads all scorers in league games, tallying 18.8 points per game.
Blumer averages a team-leading 6.3 rebounds. The Fighting Leathernecks are being outrebounded by 0.6 caroms a game.
Clemens leads The Summit League and ranks ninth in the NCAA, dishing 6.8 assists per game. She also makes 2.7 steals per game.
Toledo transfer Olivia Braun tops The Summit League with 70 blocks (2.69) on the season and averages 3.3 per game in league games. She ranks 16th in the NCAA in blocks per game.
Blumer is Western Illinois' top 3-point threat, sinking 42 3-pointers and shooting 47.7 percent overall.
WIU has four players averaging 5-or-more points and eight averaging 10-or-more minutes per game.
The Fighting Leathernecks are shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 32.9 percent from 3-point range and 76.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Breaking Down the Western Illinois Series

Wednesday's game will be the 21st meeting between SDSU and Western Illinois. The Jacks lead the series 19-1 and have won the last 19 games after dropping the first game of the series, 67-60, Jan. 14, 2008, in Macomb, Ill.
State won the first meeting of 2016-17 with a 73-58 victory in Frost Arena.
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-