JACKRABBITS WELCOME CREIGHTON MONDAY

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

When	Monday, Nov. 30 \| 6 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Scotty Kwas
Live Video	Midco Sports Network \| ESPN 3 \| Tom Nieman, Brad Newitt
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Creighton
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

South Dakota State will continue its season-opening homestand as it hosts Creighton Monday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits are coming off a season opener where they topped No. 15/18-ranked Iowa State, 76-69. It marked the 12th win over a ranked opponent in the Division I era for State.

The Bluejays are 0-2 after the opening week of play. Creighton has been topped by Drake, 75-62, and Northern Iowa, 55-52. The Jacks are slated to play both of the respective teams in their 2020-21 nonconference slate.

Creighton leads the all-time series over SDSU, 8-4. Last season when the two teams met, the Bluejays earned a 61-48 victory over the Jackrabbits.

About South Dakota State
In the season opener, Paiton Burckhard turned in eight points, three rebounds and two steals, while playing a career-high 35 minutes. Burckhard averaged a team-best 14.2 points and ranked second on the team with 5.7 rebounds per game after starting all 32 contests that she appeared in last season. The junior scored a career-best 27 points to lead the Jacks to a home victory over North Dakota and reached double-figures in 26 contests, including 20-plus points in seven games. In Summit League play she scored 253 points (15.8 ppg) and pulled down 99 rebounds. Additionally, she ranked first in the Summit League in field goal percentage (54.3 percent), third in field goals made (178), fourth in free throw percentage (80.2 percent), and sixth in points per game (14.2) and total points (455). Burckhard registered her third double-double in the win over Western Illinois with 11 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. She added 57 assists, 23 steals and 11 blocks on the season. The Aberdeen native earned Preseason All-Summit League First Team honors after being selected to the All-Summit League First Team for the 2019-20 season.

In her first game since Dec. 5, 2019, Myah Selland made an immediate impact as she recorded 19 points, five boards, two assists and two blocks. A season ago, she averaged 13.8 points and 3.0 assists per game in the nine contests she played in before suffering a season-ending foot injury. The junior shot 55.8 percent (48-of-86) from the field. Selland turned in season-bests of seven assists in the Jacks' win over Notre Dame and 20 points against FGCU. A Preseason All-Summit League First Team honoree for the Jacks, the Letcher native 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) during the 2018-19 season.

Tylee Irwin enters her senior campaign with 744 career points and 104 career steals. She was out with a minor injury in the season-opener. Irwin finished second on the team in minutes played for the 2019-20 season, averaging 27.6 minutes per game. Last season, the Wahpeton, N.D. native scored a season-best 18 points in the Jackrabbits' semifinals victory over North Dakota State. Against North Dakota, Irwin pulled down a season-high 10 boards. She blocked a career-best three shots against Omaha and Western Illinois. In Summit League play, the senior averaged 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Irwin earned a spot on the Preseason All-Summit League Second Team for the second consecutive season.

Haley Greer led SDSU in her debut as a Jackrabbit with a career-best 20 points as she went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. She joins the Jackrabbits as a graduate transfer after spending four years at Colgate. Greer, a 5-10 guard from Winnetka, Ill., comes in after leading Colgate in 3-pointers made (34) and blocked shots (23) while averaging 8.1 points per game in 2019-20.

Lindsey Theuninck earned the starting assignment for the 13th time in her career in the season opener against Iowa State. She turned in nine points, while tallying a team-best six boards and three assists in the contest. Theuninck averaged 24.5 minutes and 4.8 points per game last season. In the win over Chattanooga, the junior scored a career-high 13 points in her first-ever start as a Jackrabbit. At Denver she made a career-best three 3-pointers.

Sydney Stapleton recorded four points, three assists, and two steals against Iowa State. She averaged 17.1 minutes and 5.5 points per game off the bench a season ago. The junior from Blaine, Minn. turned in a career performance against Coppin State, shooting 5-of-10 from the 3-point line and totaling 17 points. She ranked second on the squad from beyond the arc with a total 38 3-pointers.

The duo of Kallie Theisen and Tori Nelson return for their sophomore seasons. Nelson, the reigning Summit League Freshman of the Year, averaged 22.7 minutes per game and Theisen averaged 15.9. Nelson posted the squads first double-double of the season in the win over Notre Dame. She also scored a career-best 23 points against Coppin State. Nelson helped the squad to a semifinals win over North Dakota State with a team-best 21 points. Nelson started in 19 games for the Jackrabbits and averaged 10.1 points per game in Summit League action. Theisen appeared in 14 games before suffering a season ending injury. Nelson recorded 12 points against Iowa State.

Juniors Jordan Ferrand and Addison Hirschman appeared in 18 games, while redshirt sophomore Lauren Rongisch played in 15 contests. Ferrand made an appearance in the 2020-21 season opener and recorded a block.

A trio of freshmen in Emily Herzberg, Madysen Vlastuin and Mesa Byom will round out the 2020-21 roster. Vlastuin and Byom played 19 and 12 minutes, respectively, in the season opener and recorded two points apiece.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton comes to Brookings with an early 0-2 record after falling to Drake (75-62) and Northern Iowa (55-52). A season ago, Creighton went 19-11 overall and 11-7 in Big East action.

With roster that includes five freshmen, the Bluejays look to fill the shoes of standouts Jaylyn Agnew and Olivia Elger. Agnew was named the 2019-20 BIG EAST Player of the Year and became Creighton's first ever WNBA selection.

Temi Carda, who ranked second on the squad last season with 12.9 points and 2.7 assists per game, leads the team early this season with 14.5 points and 2.5 assists per game. In the season opener against Drake, she recorded 18 points, eight rebounds and 5 assists.

Junior Rachael Saunders is averaging 9 points and a team-best 1.5 steals per game. Freshmen Emma Ronsiek has put in quality minutes for the Bluejays averaging 8.5 points per game and has recorded a team-high 4 total blocks.

As a team, Creighton is averaging 57 points per game, while shooting 30.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from long distance.

Jim Flanery is in his 19th season at the helm of the Bluejays with a 364-232 career record.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
South Dakota State women's basketball opened its season with an upset over No. 15/18-ranked Iowa State, 76-69, Saturday afternoon at Frost Arena.

"Good win for the ladies today. I thought they played really hard," head coach Aaron Johnston said. "You know, it's the first game and you just don't know how things will go, but I thought we really played well throughout the game. We made some shots, we made some things happen in the first few minutes to create a little bit of a lead. I think that helped settle everybody down."

The Jacks, now 1-0 overall, shot 42.3 percent from the field, scored 12 fast break points and dished 14 assists in the win.

Defensively, SDSU recorded seven blocks, nine steals and held the Cyclones to 18.8 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Haley Greer scored a team-high 20 points and went 4-of-6 beyond the arc in addition to three rebounds and two assists in her Jackrabbit debut. In her first game since Dec. 5, 2019, Myah Selland made an immediate impact with 19 points and five rebounds. Tori Nelson scored 12 points while Lindsey Theuninck added nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

The Jacks started out of the gates strong. A run of 10 unanswered points featuring two Greer 3-pointers put State up 12-5. Iowa State cut the Jackrabbit lead to three with five unanswered points in the final minute of the first, but Greer's third 3-pointer closed the quarter with the Jacks leading 23-17.

SDSU led by as many as 11 after a Theuninck 3-pointer and a Greer layup with six minutes to play in the half. Iowa State responded, outscoring the Jacks 13-6 for the remainder of the half. Cyclone guard Ashley Joens scored 10 of the 13 points and finished the game with 36 points. Despite the scoring run, the Jacks held a four-point advantage heading into the locker room, 37-33.

After a slow start out of the break, eight unanswered Jackrabbit points forced an ISU timeout with 5:45 remaining in the quarter. The run continued out of the timeout when Nelson hit a corner 3 to stretch the Jackrabbit lead to 12. Iowa State, however, answered with a pair of scoring runs to end the quarter cutting the Jacks advantage to just 52-48.

The Jackrabbit lead grew back to 10 in the opening minutes of the final quarter thanks to baskets by newcomers Mesa Byom and Madysen Vlastuin. Iowa State continued to fight, but wasn't able to get within six points in the final two minutes. The Jacks closed out strong at the free throw line, making eight consecutive free throws to secure the upset.

"We had really good minutes from a lot of different people. Some were new faces, some were new but familiar, for instance Myah was fantastic today. I think people got the chance to see her play when she is healthy just how explosive and talented she is and she'll get better and better with more games and just feeling comfortable again after taking time off," Johnston expressed. "Lindsey gave us really good minutes in that starting lineup, Haley Greer was fantastic and so we saw some, like I said, new faces, but familiar ones that really made a lot of things happen. Iowa State did a great job getting to the free throw line and really caused a lot of problems for us with foul trouble, we'll have to work on that, but despite that, I thought we really played well and made a lot of things happen."

Opponent's Last Time Out
Cedar Falls, Iowa -- The improvement from game one was obvious, but a 25-point second quarter wasn't enough for the win as the Creighton women's basketball team fell to Northern Iowa 55-52 on Saturday, Nov. 28.

The loss dropped the Bluejays to 0-2 on the season, while Northern Iowa moved to 1-1.

After a forgettable opening frame that saw Creighton shoot 2-of-19 from the field (10.5%), freshman Molly Mogensen delivered a spark for her team with seven points and three assists to help Creighton claim its first lead.

Trailing 16-5 with 1:48 remaining the Bluejays went on an 18-0 run over the next 7:05 to streak out to a 23-16 advantage (4:43 left in the second). Junior Rachael Saunders started the Bluejay streak with a layup to close the first quarter, but the real spark came from Mogensen. The Minnesota native factored in Creighton's next 16 points, hitting a pair of buckets to start the second, then dishing out an assist for a trey from fellow freshman Morgan Maly to get Creighton within a point at 16-15 (7:38).

Fittingly it was another bucket from Mogensen that gave Creighton its first lead (17-16 with 6:58 remaining). She went on to dish out assists to Saunders and senior Temi Carda to push Creighton to the 23-16 edge. The Bluejays went on to shoot 10-of-18 (55.6%) from the field in the second quarter, taking a 32-27 lead in at the break.

Early in the third quarter the Bluejays got an interior jumper from sophomore Mykel Parham as well as two from the charity stripe by Saunders to extend their lead to 36-27 (7:36). Despite struggling from the field the remainder of the frame (2-of-10), the Bluejays and Panthers were tied at 41-41 heading to the fourth.

A seesaw final quarter saw Northern Iowa score first on a layup by Megan Maahs, then Bluejay sophomore Carly Bachelor answered with a layup of her own with 8:10 left. Creighton's reclaimed the lead at 46-45 moments later as Mogensen knocked down a trey from the top of the key (7:09). Four straight points by the Panthers, put Creighton down 49-46, yet a pair of free throws from Carda made it a one point affair with 3:48 on the clock.

Down the stretch the more experienced Panthers pushed their lead out to 54-48 with 48 seconds remaining, but the Bluejays had one final push. An bucket down low from Bachelor followed by a defensive stop and two free throws from Mogensen made it 54-52 with 13 seconds left. Following a timeout from Northern Iowa, an apparent steal was called for the Panthers. Northern Iowa hit one of two from the charity stripe, giving the Bluejays a chance to tie with nine seconds left. Without a timeout Creighton needed to go the length of the court and a missed shot left Creighton on the short side.

Mogensen led Creighton with 12 points, while Carda and Saunders each finished with 11. Northern Iowa got a team-high 12 points from Karli Rucker.

Creighton continues the two-game road trip on Monday, Nov. 30 as the Bluejays battle South Dakota State at 6:00 pm in Brookings.
--GoCreighton.com

A Win Would...

Improve South Dakota State a 5-8 advantage in the all-time series against Creighton
Improve the Jacks to 2-0 early in the season

A Loss Would...

Increase Creighton's advantage to 9-4 in the all-time series versus South Dakota State

A Decade of Success
As a new decade begins, the women's basketball program has a great amount of accomplishments to look back on.

247 program wins
.729 winning percentage
133 Summit League wins
30 All-Summit League Honorees
14 Individual Summit League Awards
9 wins over ranked opponents
8 Summit League Championships

Major Win Milestones
The Jackrabbits reached the milestone of 1,000 program wins last season as it defeated Notre Dame, 65-59, at the Cancun Challenge. The Jacks became the 14th NCAA Division I women's team to reach the mark. Head Coach Aaron Johnston is responsible for 492 of South Dakota State's 1,014 wins.

Johnston is just seven wins away from claiming 500 career wins. He will be among 33 active Division I coaches to reach the milestone.

Tough Slate
The Jackrabbits will face two Power Five (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, PAC-12) opponents during the 2020-21 season, including Iowa State and Kansas State.

All together, the Jacks will face three ranked opponents in Iowa State, Gonzaga and Missouri State.

Additionally, South Dakota is alongside South Dakota State receiving votes in the polls.

Preseason Recognition
Paiton Burckhard and Myah Selland were named to the All-Summit League Preseason First Team, while Tylee Irwin and Tori Nelson earned All-Summit League Preseason Second Team accolades.

Jacks Tabbed Second In Preseason Poll
The Jackrabbits claimed a total of 566 points and 11 first place votes in the Summit League preseason poll. South Dakota was voted the favorite with 25 first place votes and 587 points, while Western Illinois rounded out the top three with 389 points.

2020-21 Summit League Preseason Poll

Rk	Team	Votes (1st)
1	South Dakota	587 (25)
2	South Dakota State	566 (11)
3	Western Illinois	389
4	Oral Roberts	376
5	North Dakota State	371
6	Kansas City	323
7	Denver	300
8	North Dakota	203
9	Omaha	124

Against Ranked Opponents

South Dakota State is 11-32 vs. ranked foes since 2006-07. It is 6-5 in Frost Arena, 3-14 on the road and 1-10 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.
Most recently, South Dakota State defeated No. 21/20-ranked USF, 61-50, fell to No. 3 Oregon (95-56) and a ranked South Dakota on three occasions.

2019-20 Postseason Awards

Two returning Jackrabbits earned Summit League postseason awards.
Paiton Burckhard picked up first-team accolades.
Tori Nelson was named Summit League Freshman of the year and received All-Newcomer Team selections.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Paiton Burckhard

Mesa Byom

Jordan Ferrand

Haley Greer

Emily Herzberg

Addison Hirschman

Tylee Irwin

Tori Nelson

Lauren Rongisch

Myah Selland

Sydney Stapleton

Kallie Theisen

Lindsey Theuninck

Madysen Vlastuin

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Augustana (Exhibition) on October 29, 2025 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Creighton on November 3, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Rice on November 7, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Murray State on November 11, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Montana on November 15, 2025 at 6 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. CT

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Gonzaga on November 20, 2025

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at No. 2 [#3/3] UConn on March 24, 2025 , Loss , 57, to, 91

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus No. 7 [#17/19] Oklahoma State on March 22, 2025 , Win , 74, to, 68

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus No. 2 Oral Roberts on March 9, 2025 , Win , 84, to, 68

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus No. 5 North Dakota on March 8, 2025 , Win , 84, to, 55

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus No. 8 Omaha on March 6, 2025 , Win , 87, to, 67

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus St. Thomas on March 1, 2025 , Win , 79, to, 46

South Dakota State University Athletics