JACKRABBITS TURN ATTENTION TO NO. 18 GONZAGA

Game 3 | South Dakota State (2-0) vs. No. 18 Gonzaga (1-1)

When	Sunday, Dec. 6 \| 2 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Brad Peterson
Live Video	GoJacks.com/Watch
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Gonzaga
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

South Dakota State concludes its three-game homestand as it hosts No. 18 Gonzaga Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits are off to a 2-0 start on the season for the first time since the 2017-18 season. State topped then ranked-No. 15 Iowa State in the season opener, 76-69, and Creighton, 66-47.

Gonzaga comes to Brookings 1-1 early this season. The Bulldogs opened its season in Sioux Falls at the Bad Boy Mowers Classic. Gonzaga was edged by No. 1/1 South Carolina, 79-72, before defeating South Dakota, 54-50.

Sunday marks the third meeting between the two programs with SDSU holding a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series. The Jacks look to not only capture its third-straight win over Gonzaga, but its second victory over a ranked opponent early in the season.

About South Dakota State
Myah Selland leads the team with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game. In her first game since Dec. 5, 2019, Selland made an immediate impact as she recorded 19 points, five boards, two assists and two blocks. In the win over Creighton, the redshirt junior recorded the third double-double of her career as she led the squad with 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. 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.

Paiton Burckhard averages 10.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 28 minutes per game. In the season opener she turned in eight points, three rebounds and two steals, while playing a career-high 35 minutes. She ranked second on the team with 13 points in the win over Creighton. 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. 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 has registered three double-doubles in her career. 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.

Tylee Irwin saw the first action of her senior campaign after being out with a minor injury in the season-opener. Against Creighton, she turned in eight points, seven rebounds and tied a career-high three blocks. 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 ranks second on the team averaging 14 points, 2.5 assists and 1 block per game. She posted eight points and three assists to help the Jackrabbits to a victory over Creighton. She 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 14th time in her career against Creighton and leads the team with three assists per game. She turned in nine points, while tallying a team-best six boards and three assists against Iowa State. In the win over Creighton, she added five points, four rebounds and three assists. 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. The Blaine, Minn. native added four points to the Jackrabbits efforts against Creighton. She averaged 17.1 minutes and 5.5 points per game off the bench a season ago. The junior 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 and eight in the win over Creighton.

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. In the home victory over Creighton, she sank her first collegiate 3-pointer.

State is outscoring its opponents 71-58 and holding them to 31.6 percent shooting, including 21.2 percent from long distance.

Scouting No. 18/18 Gonzaga
Gonzaga is 1-1 with the first three contests of its season all being played in South Dakota. The Bulldogs fell to No. 1/1-ranked South Carolina, 79-72, before defeating South Dakota, 54-50.

The Zags return three starters and nine letterwinners from last season's team that claimed their fourth consecutive West Coast Conference regular season title.

Gonzaga has a unique aspect to its roster with two sets of twins in LeeAnne and Jenn Wirth and Kayleigh Truong and Kaylynne Truong. Both of the Wirth twins are in the in the Zags starting lineup.

Jill Townsend leads the squad averaging 17.5 points and four assists per game. She is shooting 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field and adds a team-high three blocks.

Jenn Wirth is averaging 11 points and five rebounds per game while adding a team-best four steals. Her sister, LeeAnn leads the defensive efforts with 6 rebounds per game.

As a team, Gonzaga is averaging 63 points per game and is shooting 43.4 percent from the field.

Lisa Fortier is in her seventh season at the helm of the Bulldogs with a 156-44 record.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
South Dakota State women's basketball improved to 2-0 Monday night with a 66-47 win over Creighton at Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits shot 39.6 percent from the field, outrebounded Creighton 42-29, dished 14 assists and outscored the Bluejays in the paint 26-16.

Myah Selland finished with a double-double, the third of her career, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Letcher native also dished a team-leading four assists. Paiton Burckhard added 13 points while Haley Greer, Tori Nelson and Tylee Irwin each scored eight points and combined for 15 rebounds.

Scoring just two points in the first four minutes of action, the Jacks climbed back from an 8-2 deficit with five Selland free throws and Irwin's first 3-pointer of the season to cut Creighton's lead to 12-10 with 2:51 to play. The two teams went scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.

"We have such a history with Creighton, they always play us really tough," head coach Aaron Johnston said. "They know our strengths and we feel like we know their strengths. They did a really good job early in the game, I think, in taking us out of some things. We started off really sluggish, but I thought our defense was really good tonight."

Back-to-back layups from Burckhard sparked a 7-0 run to give the Jacks their first lead of the game 17-14 at the 6:38 mark. A run of 13 unanswered Jackrabbit points pushed State's lead to its largest of the half heading into the break, 32-21. All together, the Jacks outscored the Blue Jays 22-9 in the quarter.

The Jacks picked up where they left off in the opening minutes of the second half with eight consecutive points to grow the lead to its largest of the night at 40-21. Despite cooling off after the run, the Jacks were able to maintain a comfortable lead through a strong defensive effort and free throws in a foul-heavy third quarter for both teams.

After Creighton chipped away at the Jackrabbit lead to come within five with 6:25 left to play, the Jacks ended the game with a 14-0 run, erasing any chance for a Bluejay comeback.

"You can probably find a couple of minutes in the first half and the second half where we weren't quite as sharp as we needed to be, but overall our defense was excellent," Johnston said. "I thought we forced them into contested shots, blocked shots, forced them into late shot clock opportunities and really made it hard for them to get to the basket; so our defense was outstanding. At times, I thought our offense was really good. In the second half, we probably just missed some shots in around the rim and we got a little rushed. That took some of our momentum away when the second quarter was really good offensively and at times in the second half we were very good offensively as well."

Opponent's Last Time Out
SIOUX FALLS, SD – The No. 18/20 Gonzaga women's basketball team focused on one possession at a time to erase an 18-point deficit and earn a gutsy 54-50 victory over South Dakota Monday afternoon at the Sanford Pentagon. The win marked the final game of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.

"I'm just really happy with the way that our team fought back," head women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier said. "Obviously we were not at our best in our first quarter, not really very good in our second quarter. But by the time we got to the third quarter, I thought we were doing some things really well and executing really well out of timeouts. I was happy to see that our team is gritty and tough, kind of like I thought we were."

Gonzaga (1-1) was led in scoring by Jill Townsend who drained 20 points in the win, shooting 55.6 percent from the field with a 2-of-3 performance from long range. The senior guard added a perfect 8-of-8 effort from the free throw line, making all six of her attempts in the final 90 seconds of the game. Kayleigh Truong added 12 points for the Zags, adding six rebounds and one assist in the win.

The Bulldogs controlled the glass 37-32 and outscored the Coyotes 22-20 in the paint.

GU struggled to score in the first half, shooting 20 percent from the floor for 16 total points. The Zags were able to convert 3-of-4 attempts at the charity stripe after drawing five fouls on South Dakota, and the Bulldogs controlled the glass with 18 rebounds, four of them offensive. The Coyotes led by as many as 18 in the first half, but a 7-1 run in favor of the Zags in the final 5:29 cut the lead to 12 (28-16) heading into the break.

Cue the 180-degree shift in the second half, as the Zags outscored Coyotes 38-22, shooting 46.1 percent from the floor while limiting USD to 28.6 shooting. The Bulldogs put together a 10-2 run coming out of the break to cut the Coyotes' lead to four, 30-26, but a quick 6-0 run favor of South Dakota put the Yotes up by 10 with 3:33 to go. Melody Kempton scored the final five points of the quarter as the Zags trailed by seven (38-31) with 10 minutes remaining.

The Zags came on strong in the final quarter, scoring 23 points off 50 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three and 90 percent from the free throw line, making 9-of-10 attempts down the stretch. A 7-0 run erased the lead, and jumper from Kayleigh Truong at the 7:29 mark gave GU the lead (40-38) for the first time since 8:42 mark of the first quarter. Three minutes later, a jumper from Jenn Wirth extended the lead to seven (47-40), but a two-minute scoring drought and a 6-0 run in favor of USD cut the lead to one with 1:53 to go.

Although GU didn't make a field goal for the remainder of the game, both Townsend and Jenn Wirth converted 7-of-8 at the charity stripe to seal the victory, 54-50.

"This kind of showed what our team was all about," Townsend said. "We came in here, we hadn't had a game, played South Carolina to the end. Then today, found ourselves down 18 at one point and just clawed our way back, possession by possession. So, we learned a lot about our team, our chemistry, the fight that each one of us has. I think we're pretty happy leaving South Dakota knowing that."

South Dakota (0-2) finished with two players in double figures, led by Liv Korngable with 20 points. Hannah Sjerven added 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Gonzaga returns to play Dec. 6 at South Dakota State in Brookings, SD. Tipoff is TBA. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date information on game times.
--GoZags.com

A Win Would...

Improve South Dakota State to 3-0 in the all-time series against Gonzaga
Improve the Jacks to 3-0 early in the season
Give State its 13th win over a ranked opponent all-time and second this season

A Loss Would...

Give Gonzaga its first win over South Dakota State all-time

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.
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 last season.
Most recently, the Jacks defeated No. 15/18 Iowa State (76-69) at Frost Arena.

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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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

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