Jacks Down Bison, Earn Championship Berth

Monday, March 9

Sioux Falls, S.D.

2:30 PM

South Dakota State University

23-9,13-3Summit League

No. 6 Seed North Dakota State

11-19,7-9Summit League

North Dakota St.

South Dakota St.

Photo by: Jason Salzman

3/9/2020 4:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SIOUX FALLS – No. 2 South Dakota State women's basketball will play for its third-straight Summit League Championship title after topping No. 6 North Dakota State 76-56 Monday afternoon.

The Jackrabbits are now 23-9 on the season, while NDSU fell to 11-19.

"Well, fun environment and really proud of our team. I thought they played well out there," said head coach Aaron Johnston. "It was a physical game for both teams. I thought we did a really good job again, for another day, defensively. We forced some turnovers that took them out of some of their rhythm. They did a great job, North Dakota State, the beginning of the year to where they are at now. Just had a really good building year. I'm sure they will continue to improve going forward. They gave us a lot of different looks today and I think it took us a while to get settled in what we needed to do offensively. Credit to them for having that kind of a plan going into it."

Tori Nelson led the scoring attack with 21 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the field including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Tylee Irwin scored 18 along with four boards and five assists. Paiton Burckhard led SDSU with eight rebounds and dished out four assists to go along with her 14 points. Tagyn Larson also reached double-digits in scoring for the 18th time this season with 10 points.

After a back-and-forth start, a Nelson 3-pointer midway through the first quarter started a 12-2 run to give the Jacks a 22-13 lead. A stingy SDSU defense held the Bison without a field goal for nearly four minutes, and scoreless for 3:06, to gain separation over that span.

The Jacks held NDSU to a pair of two-plus minute scoring droughts in the second quarter before going up by as many as 13 (36-23) on a Larson jumper with 4:03 to play in the half. The Bison wouldn't give up, though, using a 7-2 spurt to cut the Jackrabbit lead to 38-30 at the break.

SDSU came out firing in the third quarter, extending its lead to 53-34 thanks to a 12-2 run. The teams traded buckets the rest of the quarter and the Jacks took a 58-41 advantage into the final period.

A Burckhard layup gave SDSU its first 20-point lead (62-41) early in the fourth and the Jacks never looked back. The Jackrabbit defense kept NDSU at bay the rest of the way to seal their place in the title game with a 76-56 victory.

"I was really proud of how we played," Johnston said. "Great to see Tori play well. Tylee made some shots too and defended really well and I thought we managed through some foul trouble there. Good win for us. It gives us a chance to play again on Tuesday, which is what we want."

Game Notes

The Jackrabbits will make their third-straight Summit League Championship title game appearance. SDSU is 30-2 all-time in the tournament.
South Dakota State is 54-39 all-time against North Dakota State with 10 consecutive wins over the Bison.
Tori Nelson scored double figures for the 12th time this season, Tylee Irwin matched her career-high in assists (five) and season-high points (18).
The Jacks' defense held the Bison to three two minute-plus scoring droughts in the first half.
Four Jackrabbits scored 10 or more for the 11th time this season.

Up Next
The Jackrabbits will play for their tenth Summit League Tournament title, taking on No. 1 South Dakota Tuesday, March 10. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. from the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

-GoJacks.com-