SIOUX FALLS — Everything the South Dakota State women's basketball team accomplished this season — 29 wins, a 19-0 record against the Summit League for a third consecutive undefeated conference season, and then this weekend, another Summit League tournament title — felt preordained.
Last year's Jackrabbits went 27-6, swept through the Summit League untouched and qualified for SDSU's 12th NCAA tournament, all despite playing with essentially a seven-woman rotation due to a litany of injuries that probably would've derailed most other teams. They literally had to pull two players out of the general student body to complete a roster.
This year, the injured players returned, as did most of the Jackrabbits' top contributors, plus a class of freshmen that ranked among the most impressive group of recruits coach Aaron Johnston had ever assembled in a single year.
As such, fans and observers of the Jackrabbits were not going to give this team a lot of leeway.
You cruised to a Summit League title with an injury-ravaged roster? You'd better do that and more with a loaded one.
That was the backdrop on this season for the Jacks, in a year where their schedule included home games against Duke, Creighton and Wisconsin, neutral site challenges against Georgia Tech and Oregon and a trip to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns.
And all they did was answer the bell, time and again. Accept every challenge. Meet expectations.
With Sunday's 84-68 win over 2nd-seeded Oral Roberts, the Jacks completed the task. They're going to the Big Dance for the 13th time since 2009, bringing with them a 29-3 record, a 19-game winning streak and a roster of players who are battle-tested, confident they can do damage in the NCAA tournament, and, if we're being honest, a little relieved the path to get there is over.
"It was hard — in a different way," said senior forward Kallie Theisen, one of the returners who missed last year due to injury. "There was pressure. All year people would say, 'oh, you have everyone back, you have all these freshmen coming in' — which is all true, but it's still hard. You still have to grind it out when you're getting everyone else's best every game, so to get it done is really rewarding."
ADVERTISEMENT
While the Jacks' added depth made them that much better this year, the rest of the conference was improved, too. The two North Dakota schools were solid, while St. Thomas took a clear step forward. So did UMKC. But Oral Roberts, in particular, looked like a for-real, yes-they're-actually-trying-to-keep-up-with-SDSU contender, putting together a talented and confident roster under third-year coach Kelsi Musick.
The Golden Eagles routed their first two opponents in this weekend's tournament, and while they acknowledged they were underdogs against 24th-ranked SDSU, they were clearly not afraid of the challenge. You can tell which women's teams that take on SDSU in the big house that is the Premier Center are beaten before the game tips off, but ORU couldn't wait to take their shot.
They fell behind 11-2 and fought back to take a 23-21 lead. They trailed at halftime by 10 and moments into the third were down 16, only to fight back to within five. It was enough to earn the respect of the near-record crowd of 8,417, but it wasn't enough to win.
That was in large part due to the heroics of Jacks point guard Paige Meyer, who was one of the easiest choices ever for tournament MVP.
The senior point guard was brilliant in SDSU's first two wins of the weekend, then took it up another notch on Sunday. Meyer had a game-high 26 points, making 4-of-6 3-pointers and all six of her free throws while adding nine assists and five rebounds in 37 minutes.
The Eagles focused much of their attention on star center Brooklyn Meyer (who still finished with 10 points and 15 boards), but Paige Meyer shrugged and said, 'OK, we'll do it your way' and directed a backcourt-focused attack that saw Haleigh Timmer go for 21 points and Madison Mathiowetz 20.
Paige averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 assists in the tournament, but the numbers barely even tell the story. She was so dynamic and so in control she looked like she'd come down from a higher league for the weekend.
ADVERTISEMENT
"She was incredible," said senior center Mesa Byom, who had 13 rebounds in the title game. "She's such a floor general, and it's so awesome to play with someone with skills like that. She makes everyone around her better."
As good as she was, though, the Eagles might have been able to overcome Meyer with a lesser supporting cast. But Timmer, Mathiowetz, Byom, Theisen, Brooklyn Meyer and the rest — they just kept coming. All year they kept coming.
Are they the best team SDSU has ever had? Not necessarily. They'll get their chance to weigh in on that soon enough. But what they did this year had to be as satisfying for Johnston as any other of the many memorable seasons this team has given him and its fans. They did everything that was asked of them.
"Every year is different," the coach said. "Last year we had to manage that sense of 'you're not good enough'. How do you handle that? This year all you hear is 'you're just gonna win, you're too good'. And neither one of those are true.
"You just have to be solid in the moment and take care of what you can control, take things as they come and not get too up or too down," Johnston added. "I'm a big believer in that."
And that belief keeps paying off. Game after game. Year after year.
The Trust Project
