Senior Night

Thursday, February 23

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Denver

Photo by: Emily Weber

2/22/2017 9:28:00 AM | Women's Basketball

GAME 28: South Dakota State [20-7, 11-4] vs. Denver [5-21, 3-11]

When	Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 l 7 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena l Brookings, S.D.
TV	GoJacks.com/watch
Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network l WNAX 570 AM l Jackrabbit All-Access l Scotty Kwas
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
SDSU Links	Game Notes
DU Links	Game Notes
Summit League Links	Weekly Notes l Website
Social Media	Twitter l #EarsUp

Riding an eight-game home win streak, the South Dakota State women's basketball team plays its final regular-season game Thursday when it hosts Denver at 7 p.m.

Seniors Clarissa Ober, Ena Viso and Kerri Young will be honored before the game.

The Jackrabbits were ranked No. 7 in Tuesday's CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll.

SDSU is third in The Summit League standings behind Western Illinois and South Dakota. State is 11-4 in the league and 20-7 overall.

The Jackrabbits improved to 8-6 overall and 4-4 in the league on the road with a 76-59 win at Fort Wayne Feb. 18. Ellie Thompson led all scorers with 20 points for her fourth 20-plus point game of the season.

Denver dropped to 5-21 overall and 3-11 in The Summit League with a 70-57 loss to Oral Roberts Feb. 18.

Thursday's game is the 12th meeting between the Jackrabbits and the Pioneers. State leads the all-time series, 10-1, has won the last four games in the series and is 4-0 in Frost Arena.

Noteworthy

The senior class of Ena Viso, Clarissa Ober and Kerri Young has complied a 97-33 overall record, made two NCAA Tournament appearances, captured two Summit League Tournament titles and a Summit League regular-season crown.
The Jackrabbits recorded their 20th overall and sixth consecutive 20-win season Feb. 18.
SDSU has double-digit Summit League victories in all 10 seasons in the league.
South Dakota State has an eight-game home winning streak, which ranks 23rd in the NCAA. It has also won its last 13 Summit League home games and is 45-2 (.957) in the last five seasons in league play.
SDSU is 11-1 at home this season with its loss coming at the hands of Green Bay Dec. 9. With a win Thursday, the Jackrabbits will finish the regular-season 8-0 in Summit League games. It would be the fifth time in the last 10 years State would be undefeated in league home contests.
After having the highest single-game attendance Feb. 4 vs. South Dakota (3,434), SDSU averages 1,804 fans in Frost Arena. All 12 home games have drawn at least 1,000-plus fans and have had 2,000-or-more fans in attendance twice.
SDSU is 466-116 (.838) all-time in home games, including 76-7 (.915) in home Summit League games.
State has won 405 of its last 500 home encounters, good for a remarkable .810 winning percentage.
South Dakota State has lost at least four league games three times—2009-10, 2010-11 and 2014-15—and went on to win Summit League Tournament titles all three seasons.
SDSU is averaging 73.1 points per game in Frost and limiting opponents to 51.3 points per game for a plus-21.9 scoring average against Summit League opponents.
The Jackrabbits have limited their last five opponents to 59.8 points per game, outscoring them by 13.0 points per outing and outrebounding their foes by 10.0 caroms.
The Jackrabbits are 242-84 (.742) in all-time games since joining The Summit League in 2007-08.
The Jacks have won 49 of their last 60 league games, dating to a 63-57 win over IUPUI Jan. 9, 2014.
State swept regular-season series with Fort Wayne, North Dakota State and Oral Roberts. It split series with IUPUI, Omaha, South Dakota and Western Illinois.
SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston, who won his 400th game Dec. 11, enters Thursday's game with a 412-140 (.746) overall record and a 138-29 (.826) 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 seventh in Tuesday's poll.
SDSU has been ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll 97 of the last 98 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 11th consecutive game are:

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

The starting lineup is 9-4 overall and 7-3 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 15.3 points per game. Young (13.4) and Thompson (13.2) are the other Jacks averaging double digits in scoring.
SDSU averages 70.4 points per game. Four Jackrabbits have led the team in scoring this season.
State has held 20 of its 27 opponents to 65-or-fewer points, including seven to less than 50.
There have been at least three Jackrabbits scoring in double digits in 20 of 27 games.
On the boards, Ober is SDSU's leading rebounder, grabbing 7.3 caroms an outing. The Jackrabbits are outrebounding opponents by 4.5 caroms.
The Jackrabbits' top 3-point threat is Guebert, who is sinking 3.0 treys per game and shooting 44.6 percent.
Young is the Jacks' top playmaker, dishing 3.4 assists per game.
The Jacks have a plus-1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
SDSU is shooting 43.9 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from 3-point range and 75.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Glance at Denver

Denver is 1-4 in its last five games and enters Thursday's game 2-11 overall and 2-4 in The Summit League on the road. The Pioneers' last road win was Jan. 25 at Oral Roberts.
DU is led offensively by senior Jacqlyn Poss. The guard is averaging 13.6 points per game. The Pioneers are averaging 62.9 points per game.
Freshman Lauren Loven is averaging 11.1 points per game off the bench and is Denver's top 3-point threat, sinking 79 3-pointers and shooting 40.9 percent overall.
Senior forward Jesse Spittel averages a team-leading 5.4 rebounds. The Pioneers are being outrebounded by 4.0 caroms a game.
Poss is dishing 1.8 assists per game.
Denver has five players averaging 5-or-more points and 10 averaging 10-or-more minutes per game.
The Pioneers are shooting 40.5 percent from the field, 36.1 percent from 3-point range and 72.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Breaking Down the Denver Series

Thursday's game will be the 12th meeting between SDSU and Denver and the Jacks lead the series, 10-1.
SDSU has won the last four games and is 4-0 in Frost Arena.
State won the first game of the 2016-17 season, 72-63, Jan. 18 in Denver.
The Pioneers' lone win in the series came Feb. 11, 2015, when they surprised the Jackrabbits with a 77-72 win in Denver.

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-