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Jan. 17—BROOKINGS — There were a handful of lengthy streaks on the line when North Dakota State arrived at First Bank and Trust Arena on Saturday for a women's basketball showdown with rival South Dakota State.
The Jackrabbits had won 67 consecutive regular season Summit League games, a streak that dates back to 2022. The Jacks' last home conference loss came in 2020.
NDSU, meanwhile, came in bearing a 24-game losing streak to SDSU. Their last win against the Jackrabbits came more than 4,000 days ago, in 2015. Their last win in Brookings was in 2010. Some of their players hadn't even started Kindergarten yet.
But on Saturday that past history didn't matter. The Bison were not just determined to end those streaks, they were confident it was going to happen.
After years of ugly beatdowns and gut-wrenching close calls, it finally went NDSU's way on Saturday, as the Bison outlasted the Jackrabbits 76-68 in front of 4,136 fans at First Bank & Trust Arena.
Now one streak remains. NDSU's 14-game winning streak.
The magnitude of the win is hard to overstate. This is not a Jackrabbit team crippled by injuries or in the midst of a rebuild. They're the same mid-major power they've been for two decades, and the Bison came into their house and beat them soundly. They led by as much as 13, and never let the Jacks get closer than five in the fourth quarter.
With the energy the Bison brought to the Arena from the jump, it felt almost like their win was inevitable. After 11 years of banging their heads against a blue and yellow wall, today was going to be the day.
"I think I literally said that before the game," said Bison post Avery Koenen, whose 26 points and 13 rebounds served as the backbone of the NDSU win. "Just because I'm so confident in the girls that we have and the coaching staff that we have. Obviously going into a game like that you're aware of (the streaks) and that can give you some momentum and some motivation to go in. I'm just proud of how we handled the situations today."
Bison coach Jory Collins has steadily rebuilt a Bison program that was a mid-major doormat when he arrived, but even with trips to the WNIT in each of the last three seasons, a win over SDSU eluded him.
Now that he finally has one, is there a weight off his shoulders?
"I've had a lot of people ask me that recently," Collins said. "Not really. Obviously it's awesome to beat them but I know how good they've been, too. You don't just walk around and beat somebody that's as established as they've been and as consistent as they've been. Quite honestly they've had the better team just about every time we've played them for a long time. I think now we're to a point where we have some veteran players that are also really talented where it's a much more even match up. We can go into games feeling like, hey, if we play well we're gonna win. If we don't we're not. I don't know that that was always the case in years past."
It's not often that one statistic can tell the story of a game by itself but in this one, NDSU's 17-0 advantage in second chance points is hard to ignore. The Bison (16-2, 5-0) had a 38-29 edge on the glass that included 11 offensive rebounds to two for the Jacks, and they turned those into 12 more field goal attempts than the hosts. NDSU outscored the Jacks 24-10 in the third quarter, and though SDSU would threaten to rally a couple times, they never truly got the Bison on their heels.
"Even in the first half I didn't feel like we were playing great," said Jacks coach Aaron Johnston, pointing out that 11 first-half turnovers prevented his team from building a lead. "I think we were kind of hanging in there. And then I think in that third quarter it was a handful of possessions. We didn't make a play, didn't get a rebound or loose ball and now all of a sudden it's a double digit game.
"So that third quarter I think it just got away from us," the coach added. "I thought some of it's execution. And some of it was just, you know, they wanted to win. And I think we did. But at times with some of those plays they seemed like they were just a little quicker to a basketball that we needed to get to."
Jocelyn Schiller and Marisa Frost had 14 points each for the Bison. Brooklyn Meyer had 24 points for SDSU (14-5, 4-1), while Madison Mathiowetz added 15 points and Katie Vasecka 11. SDSU outshot NDSU 47 percent to 43 percent overall but went just 2-of-11 on 3s in addition to having fewer possessions.
The loss led to unusual emotions for the SDSU players. This is literally the first time any of them have experienced a loss to a conference opponent.
"We talked about it in the locker room afterwards," Meyer said. "We're not worried about any, you know, streak or anything like that. We're really just focused on this team. Obviously, this feeling sucks, but the sun will rise tomorrow and we'll be back. I'm just excited that we still have a lot more season and a lot more games left."
Johnston acknowledged the streak and didn't hide his disappointment that it's over. But he pointed out that his team has been making mistakes they can get away with against some teams, and that today, against a legit Bison team, they couldn't. That should provide his team with motivation going forward. It's a credit to the Jacks that they avoided a letdown for almost four full years, but now they finally have a worthy opponent that will force them to be at their best to reach their postseason goals.
"The reality is it's a tough (loss)," Johnston said. "And I'm not going to minimize that. But it is still one game. The goals we have are still in front of us. That doesn't make it easy. That doesn't minimize the loss. But it is one. It's harder. It feels heavier. But it doesn't have to define the rest of our year or anything we've done prior to this."
Before Saturday:
SDSU's last Summit League loss: Jan. 8, 2022 vs South Dakota
SDSU's last Summit League home loss: Feb. 22, 2020 vs South Dakota
NDSU's last win over SDSU: Jan. 4, 2015
NDSU's last win in Brookings: Dec. 4, 2010
Continue reading...
The Jackrabbits had won 67 consecutive regular season Summit League games, a streak that dates back to 2022. The Jacks' last home conference loss came in 2020.
NDSU, meanwhile, came in bearing a 24-game losing streak to SDSU. Their last win against the Jackrabbits came more than 4,000 days ago, in 2015. Their last win in Brookings was in 2010. Some of their players hadn't even started Kindergarten yet.
But on Saturday that past history didn't matter. The Bison were not just determined to end those streaks, they were confident it was going to happen.
After years of ugly beatdowns and gut-wrenching close calls, it finally went NDSU's way on Saturday, as the Bison outlasted the Jackrabbits 76-68 in front of 4,136 fans at First Bank & Trust Arena.
Now one streak remains. NDSU's 14-game winning streak.
The magnitude of the win is hard to overstate. This is not a Jackrabbit team crippled by injuries or in the midst of a rebuild. They're the same mid-major power they've been for two decades, and the Bison came into their house and beat them soundly. They led by as much as 13, and never let the Jacks get closer than five in the fourth quarter.
With the energy the Bison brought to the Arena from the jump, it felt almost like their win was inevitable. After 11 years of banging their heads against a blue and yellow wall, today was going to be the day.
"I think I literally said that before the game," said Bison post Avery Koenen, whose 26 points and 13 rebounds served as the backbone of the NDSU win. "Just because I'm so confident in the girls that we have and the coaching staff that we have. Obviously going into a game like that you're aware of (the streaks) and that can give you some momentum and some motivation to go in. I'm just proud of how we handled the situations today."
Bison coach Jory Collins has steadily rebuilt a Bison program that was a mid-major doormat when he arrived, but even with trips to the WNIT in each of the last three seasons, a win over SDSU eluded him.
Now that he finally has one, is there a weight off his shoulders?
"I've had a lot of people ask me that recently," Collins said. "Not really. Obviously it's awesome to beat them but I know how good they've been, too. You don't just walk around and beat somebody that's as established as they've been and as consistent as they've been. Quite honestly they've had the better team just about every time we've played them for a long time. I think now we're to a point where we have some veteran players that are also really talented where it's a much more even match up. We can go into games feeling like, hey, if we play well we're gonna win. If we don't we're not. I don't know that that was always the case in years past."
It's not often that one statistic can tell the story of a game by itself but in this one, NDSU's 17-0 advantage in second chance points is hard to ignore. The Bison (16-2, 5-0) had a 38-29 edge on the glass that included 11 offensive rebounds to two for the Jacks, and they turned those into 12 more field goal attempts than the hosts. NDSU outscored the Jacks 24-10 in the third quarter, and though SDSU would threaten to rally a couple times, they never truly got the Bison on their heels.
"Even in the first half I didn't feel like we were playing great," said Jacks coach Aaron Johnston, pointing out that 11 first-half turnovers prevented his team from building a lead. "I think we were kind of hanging in there. And then I think in that third quarter it was a handful of possessions. We didn't make a play, didn't get a rebound or loose ball and now all of a sudden it's a double digit game.
"So that third quarter I think it just got away from us," the coach added. "I thought some of it's execution. And some of it was just, you know, they wanted to win. And I think we did. But at times with some of those plays they seemed like they were just a little quicker to a basketball that we needed to get to."
Jocelyn Schiller and Marisa Frost had 14 points each for the Bison. Brooklyn Meyer had 24 points for SDSU (14-5, 4-1), while Madison Mathiowetz added 15 points and Katie Vasecka 11. SDSU outshot NDSU 47 percent to 43 percent overall but went just 2-of-11 on 3s in addition to having fewer possessions.
The loss led to unusual emotions for the SDSU players. This is literally the first time any of them have experienced a loss to a conference opponent.
"We talked about it in the locker room afterwards," Meyer said. "We're not worried about any, you know, streak or anything like that. We're really just focused on this team. Obviously, this feeling sucks, but the sun will rise tomorrow and we'll be back. I'm just excited that we still have a lot more season and a lot more games left."
Johnston acknowledged the streak and didn't hide his disappointment that it's over. But he pointed out that his team has been making mistakes they can get away with against some teams, and that today, against a legit Bison team, they couldn't. That should provide his team with motivation going forward. It's a credit to the Jacks that they avoided a letdown for almost four full years, but now they finally have a worthy opponent that will force them to be at their best to reach their postseason goals.
"The reality is it's a tough (loss)," Johnston said. "And I'm not going to minimize that. But it is still one game. The goals we have are still in front of us. That doesn't make it easy. That doesn't minimize the loss. But it is one. It's harder. It feels heavier. But it doesn't have to define the rest of our year or anything we've done prior to this."
Before Saturday:
SDSU's last Summit League loss: Jan. 8, 2022 vs South Dakota
SDSU's last Summit League home loss: Feb. 22, 2020 vs South Dakota
NDSU's last win over SDSU: Jan. 4, 2015
NDSU's last win in Brookings: Dec. 4, 2010
Continue reading...
