Women take on Dakota Wesleyan at Sanford Pentagon

Game 3 | South Dakota State (0-2) vs. Dakota Wesleyan (3-1)

When	Friday, Nov. 15 \| 7:45 p.m.
Where	Sanford Pentagon \| Sioux Falls, S.D.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 104.1 FM \| Brad Peterson
Live Video	Facebook.com/SanfordPentagon
Live Stats	Pentagon.SidearmSports.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

South Dakota State will take on Dakota Wesleyan in a neutral game at the Sanford Pentagon on Friday in Sioux Falls. The event will be a double header with wrestling. Tipoff is set for 7:45 p.m. or 30 minutes after the mats are cleared from the wrestling dual.

Dakota Wesleyan is 3-1 yearly this season, while the Jackrabbits are off to an 0-2 start early this season.

This is the 10th meeting all-time between the programs, with SDSU holding a commanding 9-0 lead in the series. The Jackrabbits won the last matchup, 76-63.

Last Time Out
The South Dakota State women's basketball team suffered a 61-48 loss to Creighton on Tuesday evening at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.

Myah Selland paced the Jacks with 14 points (6-of-12) and eight rebounds. Paiton Burckhard also scored in double figures as she recorded 12 points. Tagyn Larson tied with Selland for a team-best eight boards while also adding four points, a steal and a block. Tylee Irwin added seven points and grabbed six rebounds.

Creighton was led by Jaylyn Agnew who recorded 23 points.

A 3-pointer from Rylie Cascio Jensen and a trio of Jackrabbit layups helped give State an early 8-5 lead to start the game. Creighton came back to tied it at 11-11, but a pair of Burckhard free throws and a last second basket by Tori Nelson gave the Jackrabbits an 15-11 advantage.

Burckhard opened the second quarter with back-to-back layups to give the Jackrabbits its largest lead of eight points. A 14-6 run by Creighton locked the score at 25-all with under three minutes to play in the half. The Jackrabbits scored the final four points of the half, including a last second shot by Selland, to hold a 29-25 lead.

State battled to hold onto its lead in the second half, but Creighton outscored the Jacks 23-14 in the third quarter to lead 48-43 headed into the final frame.

A 3-pointer by Irwin cut the deficit to four early in the fourth, but aside from a Selland free throw, the Jackrabbits went scoreless for the remainder of the game. Creighton scored eight points in the final three minutes to capture a 61-48 win over South Dakota State.

About South Dakota State
South Dakota State has opened its season with a pair of road games and has fallen to Drake, 74-67, and Creighton, 61-48.

Through two games, Myah Selland leads the Jackrabbits with 15.5 points after reaching double figures in both games. Selland also leads the rebounding efforts, averaging 6.5 board per game. She is shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field. An All-Summit League Preseason First Team honoree, the junior averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while ranking second on the team in assists (108) and blocked shots (18) last season.

Paiton Burckhard has found a place in the starting lineup. She is averaging 15 points, after scoring a career-best 18 points in to lead the Jacks in the season opener. She holds a team-best 50.4 field goal percentage. The sophomore was named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team a season ago.

Averaging 8 points and 6 rebounds per game is Tylee Irwin. The junior scored nine points against Drake and seven against Creighton. She has grabbed six boards in each game. Last season Irwin ranked third on the squad with 15 blocked shots and was fourth in steals (33), rebounding (3.7 rpg), and 3-pointers (22). She was named to the All-Summit League Preseason Second team.

Rylie Cascio Jensen has quickly settled into the starting lineup early this season. She is averaging 7 points per game and leads the team with 3.5 assists per game. Cascio Jensen recorded a career-best seven boards in the season opener and is averaging 3.5 rebounds per game. Through two games, the senior has gone 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. She ranked third on the team with 105 assists and fifth on the squad with 20 3-pointers last year, averaging 19.2 minutes per game off the bench.

Tagyn Larson is averaging 6 rebounds and 4.5 points per game through two games. She adds 3 steals and a block. A 2018-19 All-Summit League Second Team and Summit League Championship All-Tournament Team selection, Larson was named to the All-Summit League Preseason First Team. She led the team last season in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and blocked shots (43). The senior averaged 10.5 points per game.

Rounding out the Senior class is Megan Bultsma who appeared in 22 games, averaging 5.1 minutes per game.

Lindsey Theuninck is averaging 23.5 minutes off the bench. She averaged 12.1 minutes and 2.6 points a game for the Jacks last season.

The trio of Sydney Staleton, Addison Hirschman and Jordan Ferrand round out the sophomore class. Stapleton appeared in 23 games, while Hirschman and Ferrand each saw playing time in 17 games.

Completing Jackrabbit roster is a trio of new faces to South Dakota State and a redshirt freshman.

The duo of Kallie Theisen and Tori Nelson have made appearances in both games. Nelson is averaging 12.5 minutes per game and Theisen is averaging 10.

Lauren Rongisch readshirted last year and will make her collegiate debut in the 2019-20 season. She was a three-time All-State honorable mention selection, a second-team All-Metro pick in 2016 and honorable mention in 2015 and 2017 at Millard West High School. Rongisch finished her high school career with 595 points, averaging 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc and 77 percent from the free-throw line.

Regan Nesheim helped lead Johnston High School to three consecutive state tournament appearances. She earned second-team all-state recognition as a senior after averaging 13.1 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots per game.

SDSU is shooting 42.2 percent from the field, while averaging 34 rebounds per game. The Jackrabbits rank second in the Summit League with 16.5 assists per game.

Aaron Johnston is in his 20th season at the helm of the Jackrabbits with a record of 469-158.

Scouting Dakota Wesleyan
The Tigers are 3-1 early this season. Dakota Wesleyan competed at the Sanford Pentagon last week when it defeated Dakota State (94-74) and Presentation (73-33) in the NAIA Sanford Pentagon Classic.

DWU is averaging 81.3 points per game with a 48 field goal percentage. The Tigers have held its opponents to 63.3 points.

Kynedi Cheeseman is leading the team with 26 points per game. She put up 29 points in the season opener against Vally City State. Most recently Cheeseman went 12-of-19 from the field to record 26 points against Dordt.

An additional three Tigers are averaging double figures. Sarah Carr is averaging 16 points per game, while Jessica Mieras and Haylee Mork are each averaging 11.

Carr and Kamryn Heinz are leading the rebounding efforts, each averaging five per game.

Jason Christensen is in his 10th season with a record of 191-109.

A Win Would Give...
South Dakota State its 10th win all-time over Dakota Wesleyan, keeping State undefeated against the Tigers
The Jackrabbits first win of the season
SDSU its 996th program win, making it just four wins away from reaching 1,000

A Loss Would...
Give Dakota Wesleyan its fist win over South Dakota State

1,000 Wins on the Horizon
The Jackrabbits are rapidly approaching a large milestone in the history of their program. State is just five wins away from 1,000 program wins. The team will join an elite 13 teams in NCAA Division I schools who have reached the mark.

Jackrabbits in the Polls
South Dakota State was positioned No. 8 in the College Insider Mid-Major poll released earlier this week. The Jackrabbits ranked atop the final poll of the 2018-19 season.

The Jacks are also receiving 12 votes in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches preseason poll and 2 votes in the Associated Press poll.

Tough Slate
The Jackrabbits will face two Power Five (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, PAC-12) opponents during the 2019-20 season, including Oregon and Notre Dame.

Oregon, who SDSU fell to in the Sweet Sixteen, made it to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament where it fell to the 2019 National Champions, Baylor, 72-67. The Ducks were ranked No. 1 in both the USA Today/Coaches and AP preseason polls.

Notre Dame came up short in the National Championship game to Baylor, 82-81. The Fighting Irish were ranked No. 14 and No 16 in the USA Today/Coaches and AP preseason polls, respectively.

Additionally, Drake, South Dakota, South Florida, Marquette, and Florida Gulf Coast are all alongside South Dakota State receiving votes in the polls.

Preseason Recognition
Tagyn Larson and Myah Selland were named to the All-Summit League Preseason First Team, while Tylee Irwin earned All-Summit League Preseason Second Team accolades.

Jacks Tabbed Second In Preseason Poll
The Jackrabbits claimed a total of 496 points and 13 first place votes in the preseason poll. South Dakota was voted the favorite with 20 first place votes and 527 points, while Denver rounded out the top three with 394 points and a lone first place vote.

2019-20 Summit League Preseason Poll
Rk	Team	Votes (1st)
1	South Dakota	527 (20)
2	South Dakota State	496 (13)
3	Denver	394 (1)
4	Oral Roberts	370
5	Western Illinois	332
6	North Dakota	213
7	North Dakota State	181
8	Omaha	147
9	Purdue Fort Wayne	85

Summit League Titles

South Dakota State won its Summit League-leading sixth regular-season title in the program's 12 years in the league with a 15-1 record.
The Jackrabbits last won the regular-season title in 2013-14, finishing the league schedule 13-1.
SDSU also claimed titles in 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12 and 2012-13.
State has claimed nine Summit League tournament titles in the past 11 years.

Against Ranked Opponents

South Dakota State is 10-28 vs. ranked foes since 2006-07. It is 6-5 in Frost Arena, 3-14 on the road and 1-9 at neutral sites.
The Jackrabbits' 75-67 win over 12th-ranked Syracuse ties for the highest ranked team they have beaten in program history.
Syracuse was also the highest team South Dakota State has defeated on the road.
SDSU faced its highest-ranked opponent Jan. 2, 2014, when it played then-No. 2 Notre Dame (L, 94-51) in South Bend.

Postseason Awards

Three returning Jackrabbits earned Summit League postseason awards.
Tagyn Larson picked up second-team accolades and Myah Selland was on the honorable mention team.
Rookie Paiton Burckhard was named to The Summit League All-Newcomer Team.
At The Summit League Championship, Larson was named to the all-tournament team.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Megan Bultsma

Paiton Burckhard

Rylie Cascio Jensen

Jordan Ferrand

Addison Hirschman

Tylee Irwin

Tagyn Larson

Tori Nelson

Regan Nesheim

Lauren Rongisch

Myah Selland

Kallie Theisen

Lindsey Theuninck

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