South Dakota State returns to Brookings this week to host Denver Thursday and St. Thomas Saturday at First Bank & Trust Arena for the final two regular season games of the season. The Jackrabbits will host their annual Pink Game Thursday, partnering with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to benefit the Edith Sanford Breast Center.Â
The Jackrabbits enter the week with a 24-3 overall record and are still unbeaten at 14-0 in Summit League action. SDSU is coming off an 80-60 win at Kansas City in which
Brooklyn Meyer scored 34 points on 13-of-16 shooting for the Jacks. In conference action, SDSU leads the Summit League in a number of categories, including opponent scoring (60.7 PPG), field goal percentage (.502), rebounding (36.9 RPG) and assist/turnover ratio (1.57).
Denver is 8-19 overall and 1-13 in conference games. Jordan Jones scores 20.0 points and grabs 6.6 rebounds per game to lead the Pioneers. The Pios have lost seven straight games, including back-to-back five-point losses during last week's action.
KEY STORYLINES
- South Dakota State enters the final week of the regular season having already clinched the Summit League regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's Summit League tourney.
- The Jacks need two more wins to go unbeaten in the conference season for the third straight season. Prior to last season, no team in League history had run the table in back-to-back years.
- SDSU is ranked No. 25 in the WBCA Coaches Poll this week, appearing in the poll for the fifth time this season. The Jacks are receiving votes in the AP Poll and is the unanimous No. 1 in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Poll.
- Brooklyn Meyer, SDSU's leading scorer, is coming off a 34-point outing at Kansas City last week. That output is the most in regulation by a Jackrabbit in the program's Division I era.
- Brooklyn Meyer scores 17.6 points per game and shoots .643 from the floor, which ranks sixth in the country. In conference games, Meyer scores 18.6 points while shooting .706.
- Haleigh Timmer, SDSU's second leading scorer, has put up at least eight points in every game this season and reached double figures all but four times. She is shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.
- Paige Meyer became SDSU's Division I career assists leader at Kansas City last week. She has dished at least seven assists in eight of the last 11 games. She has really hit her stride lately, averaging 14.2 points, 6.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 43 percent since February 1.
- SDSU's .480 overall field goal percentage ranks seventh in country. The Jackrabbits have shot at least 50 percent 12 times this season.
- SDSU has won 61 straight Summit League regular season games. That streak ranks top 10 in NCAA history for consecutive regular season conference victories. The Jacks are 79-1 in the Summit League regular season going back to the beginning of the 2020-21 season.
-GoJacks.com-