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Feb. 17—BROOKINGS — After winning 67 straight Summit League regular season games, the South Dakota State women lost twice in a two-week span, at home to North Dakota State and on the road against South Dakota.
It was certainly no reason to panic, but it was uncharted territory for the players, as literally nobody on the roster had ever lost a conference game before.
Additionally, both losses had been fairly convincing. The Bison and Coyotes had made the Jackrabbits look pretty mortal, and perhaps exposed ways to beat them. As of today, SDSU is not the favorite to get to the NCAA tournament out of the Summit League.
That said, the Jackrabbits have responded in a big way.
They've won three in a row, and these were the scores of the three:
84-51
94-48
93-40
Granted, all three games were against teams in the bottom half of the Summit League standings, but the Jacks sure seem to be on a mission to reestablish their dominance and get back their swagger.
Coach Aaron Johnston credits that to his players properly responding to their first taste of Summit League adversity, taking ownership of their mistakes and taking steps to improve their execution and effort on the floor, hinting that they had perhaps let their dominance give them an inflated sense of confidence.
"Being a winner at a really high level is a learned habit," Johnston said. "Putting on a uniform isn't like a cape. It isn't like a Marvel costume. You don't turn into a different person when you put on a uniform. You're still the same. It's the habits that make a difference. It's those other intangibles, and that's what we've been working on."
A major factor in the Jacks' loss to USD was their inability to give offensive support to star center Brooklyn Meyer, with Coyote coach Carrie Eighmey acknowledging that was a centerpiece of their gameplan.
In the three games since SDSU has certainly addressed that issue.
In their win over St. Thomas they got 21 points from Madison Mathiowetz, and Meyer attempted only nine field goals (still netting 19 points).
Against North Dakota Meyer had 21 and nobody else had more than 11, but eight players scored at least seven points.
And in their most recent win over UMKC, the Jacks needed just 11 points from Meyer while getting a career-high 26 from Emilee Fox, 18 from Madison Mathiowetz and 13 from Hadley Thul.
"We need to continue to be dynamic, not be one dimensional through Brooklyn, not be one dimensional through Maddie," Johnston said. "We need other players that continue to step up and play well. We've got to find ways to put them in a position where they know they can do that and a plan that helps them feel confident to do that. We got to defend really well.
"We've rebounded really well," the coach added. "When we get into trouble in games we just get stretches of time where our offense is just not really intentional. We just get a little loose, a little random. It can't feel like a pickup game where you're just kind of out there hooping. You've got to have — you're trying to accomplish something with every possession. Sometimes in games we've had troubles with that where we just get a little sped up or out of sync. So we're working on trying to stay a little more determined with that in practice."
The Jacks are without sophomore guard Katie Vasecka again, as she missed Saturday's win over UMKC and is not expected to play in either of the Jacks two road games this week at Oral Roberts and Denver.
That has opened the door for forward Maggie Hartwig to reclaim a prominent role after a recent demotion.
Hartwig was supposed to be a major piece this year after transferring from Evansville, where she'd been a star in the Missouri Valley Conference, averaging 16.5 points and 9.2 rebounds last year. But she's had trouble finding her niche with the Jacks.
Hartwig appeared to hit her stride when scoring in double figures in seven out of 10 games in December and January, but after scoring just eight points in a five-game stretch that ended with the loss to USD she was removed from the starting lineup.
Hartwig seemed to respond well to the demotion, scoring 11 points with five rebounds in just nine minutes against UND and six points in 12 minutes against UMKC.
Johnston likes what Hadley Thul has given the Jacks since moving into the starting lineup, but it's clear they haven't given up on Hartwig.
"Any chance she gets to build confidence and get moving is good for her," Johnston said after her 11-point effort against the Hawks. "On a human level it's hard to go from starting to maybe not in a normal rotation. We're playing four guards now so it's just different. It changes a lot of things. I give Maggie a lot of credit. She's practiced really well. She's gonna have to play some big minutes for us and she'll keep working to be ready."
The Jacks are tied for second in the Summit with USD at 10-2 (they're 20-6 overall). They'll visit Oral Roberts (13-12, 6-6) Thursday and Denver (9-17, 3-10) on Saturday.
The Jackrabbit men snapped a three-game losing streak with a win at last-place Oral Roberts over the weekend, just in time to welcome in first place North Dakota State.
The Jacks and Bison have enjoyed a spirited rivalry on the hardwood over the years, and while NDSU (21-6, 11-1) would appear to be heavy favorites, SDSU (12-15, 5-7) hopes snapping their losing streak gives them the kind of confidence and momentum boost that can help them spring the upset.
"They're playing good basketball," Jacks coach Bryan Petersen said of the Bison. "They played really well all year and now they're coming into our place. We battled them up there pretty good in Fargo. Never quite got over the hump but this game's always fun to play in. Whether it's up in Fargo or here in Brookings and so we're just really looking forward to that opportunity."
The Bison and Jacks are the top two teams in the Summit League defensively, but while SDSU averages just 76 points per game (seventh out of nine teams), the Bison are third at 81.4.
SDSU's offensive consistency has been their biggest issue, while NDSU has made consistency on both ends of the floor their calling card.
"They just play really well together," said Petersen, whose team will host third-place North Dakota on Saturday. "They got a lot of pieces that fit. They can shoot the ball. They can score on the inside defensively. They're athletic. They just been very, very consistent and it seems like they've won a lot of close games."
Jackrabbits this week
Women: at ORU, Thursday, 7 p.m.; at Denver, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Men: vs NDSU, Wednesday, 7 p.m.; vs UND, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Continue reading...
It was certainly no reason to panic, but it was uncharted territory for the players, as literally nobody on the roster had ever lost a conference game before.
Additionally, both losses had been fairly convincing. The Bison and Coyotes had made the Jackrabbits look pretty mortal, and perhaps exposed ways to beat them. As of today, SDSU is not the favorite to get to the NCAA tournament out of the Summit League.
That said, the Jackrabbits have responded in a big way.
They've won three in a row, and these were the scores of the three:
84-51
94-48
93-40
Granted, all three games were against teams in the bottom half of the Summit League standings, but the Jacks sure seem to be on a mission to reestablish their dominance and get back their swagger.
Coach Aaron Johnston credits that to his players properly responding to their first taste of Summit League adversity, taking ownership of their mistakes and taking steps to improve their execution and effort on the floor, hinting that they had perhaps let their dominance give them an inflated sense of confidence.
"Being a winner at a really high level is a learned habit," Johnston said. "Putting on a uniform isn't like a cape. It isn't like a Marvel costume. You don't turn into a different person when you put on a uniform. You're still the same. It's the habits that make a difference. It's those other intangibles, and that's what we've been working on."
A major factor in the Jacks' loss to USD was their inability to give offensive support to star center Brooklyn Meyer, with Coyote coach Carrie Eighmey acknowledging that was a centerpiece of their gameplan.
In the three games since SDSU has certainly addressed that issue.
In their win over St. Thomas they got 21 points from Madison Mathiowetz, and Meyer attempted only nine field goals (still netting 19 points).
Against North Dakota Meyer had 21 and nobody else had more than 11, but eight players scored at least seven points.
And in their most recent win over UMKC, the Jacks needed just 11 points from Meyer while getting a career-high 26 from Emilee Fox, 18 from Madison Mathiowetz and 13 from Hadley Thul.
"We need to continue to be dynamic, not be one dimensional through Brooklyn, not be one dimensional through Maddie," Johnston said. "We need other players that continue to step up and play well. We've got to find ways to put them in a position where they know they can do that and a plan that helps them feel confident to do that. We got to defend really well.
"We've rebounded really well," the coach added. "When we get into trouble in games we just get stretches of time where our offense is just not really intentional. We just get a little loose, a little random. It can't feel like a pickup game where you're just kind of out there hooping. You've got to have — you're trying to accomplish something with every possession. Sometimes in games we've had troubles with that where we just get a little sped up or out of sync. So we're working on trying to stay a little more determined with that in practice."
The Jacks are without sophomore guard Katie Vasecka again, as she missed Saturday's win over UMKC and is not expected to play in either of the Jacks two road games this week at Oral Roberts and Denver.
That has opened the door for forward Maggie Hartwig to reclaim a prominent role after a recent demotion.
Hartwig was supposed to be a major piece this year after transferring from Evansville, where she'd been a star in the Missouri Valley Conference, averaging 16.5 points and 9.2 rebounds last year. But she's had trouble finding her niche with the Jacks.
Hartwig appeared to hit her stride when scoring in double figures in seven out of 10 games in December and January, but after scoring just eight points in a five-game stretch that ended with the loss to USD she was removed from the starting lineup.
Hartwig seemed to respond well to the demotion, scoring 11 points with five rebounds in just nine minutes against UND and six points in 12 minutes against UMKC.
Johnston likes what Hadley Thul has given the Jacks since moving into the starting lineup, but it's clear they haven't given up on Hartwig.
"Any chance she gets to build confidence and get moving is good for her," Johnston said after her 11-point effort against the Hawks. "On a human level it's hard to go from starting to maybe not in a normal rotation. We're playing four guards now so it's just different. It changes a lot of things. I give Maggie a lot of credit. She's practiced really well. She's gonna have to play some big minutes for us and she'll keep working to be ready."
The Jacks are tied for second in the Summit with USD at 10-2 (they're 20-6 overall). They'll visit Oral Roberts (13-12, 6-6) Thursday and Denver (9-17, 3-10) on Saturday.
The Jackrabbit men snapped a three-game losing streak with a win at last-place Oral Roberts over the weekend, just in time to welcome in first place North Dakota State.
The Jacks and Bison have enjoyed a spirited rivalry on the hardwood over the years, and while NDSU (21-6, 11-1) would appear to be heavy favorites, SDSU (12-15, 5-7) hopes snapping their losing streak gives them the kind of confidence and momentum boost that can help them spring the upset.
"They're playing good basketball," Jacks coach Bryan Petersen said of the Bison. "They played really well all year and now they're coming into our place. We battled them up there pretty good in Fargo. Never quite got over the hump but this game's always fun to play in. Whether it's up in Fargo or here in Brookings and so we're just really looking forward to that opportunity."
The Bison and Jacks are the top two teams in the Summit League defensively, but while SDSU averages just 76 points per game (seventh out of nine teams), the Bison are third at 81.4.
SDSU's offensive consistency has been their biggest issue, while NDSU has made consistency on both ends of the floor their calling card.
"They just play really well together," said Petersen, whose team will host third-place North Dakota on Saturday. "They got a lot of pieces that fit. They can shoot the ball. They can score on the inside defensively. They're athletic. They just been very, very consistent and it seems like they've won a lot of close games."
Jackrabbits this week
Women: at ORU, Thursday, 7 p.m.; at Denver, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Men: vs NDSU, Wednesday, 7 p.m.; vs UND, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Continue reading...
