Nov. 20—SIOUX FALLS — South Dakota State has learned the importance of early season non-conference games over the years. When they get to March and they’re jockeying for seeding in the NCAA tournament, it’s the games in November and December that often end up counting the most, as those games are the best way for a mid-major power like the Jackrabbits to boost their resume.
With that in mind, the Jackrabbits’ 72-63 win over Gonzaga on Thursday night at the Sanford Pentagon could potentially be a big one.
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The Bulldogs are not ranked and are not part of a power conference, but they are a 15-time NCAA tournament qualifier with designs on making it 16 this year. That made this weirdly almost a must-win for the Jacks, and they delivered in front of a highly-engaged blue-clad crowd of 2,136.
Madison Mathiowetz had 17 points and Katie Vasecka 16 to pace the Jacks on a night when superstar center Brooklyn Meyer was held to just nine (she came in averaging 26).
Jacks coach Aaron Johnston said his team doesn’t specifically discuss the potential postseason stakes of their non-conference games, but everyone is aware of it, and that made this win in front of a Sioux Falls crowd a satisfying one.
“I’d say we look at these games as one game at a time, no matter who we’re playing” Mathiowetz said. “We know the opponent’s going to be good, they’re going to bring a good game plan. Every game’s going to prepare us for the postseason, especially this non-conference schedule that we have. So I think just remembering how important coming out and playing each game like we would at the end of the season.”
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The Jacks (5-0) might not necessarily have been in March mode on Thursday, but they were good. They shot 45 percent from the floor, made 12-of-25 from outside and used strong defense to overcome a whopping 43-23 rebounding disadvantage. The Bulldogs (2-3) shot 41 percent and went 4-for-19 from 3, and turned the ball over 22 times.
Allie Turner had 19 points and Laruen Whittaker 15 and 13 rebounds for the Zags, but they let things get away from them in the second quarter. SDSU outscored them 27-14 to take a 13-point halftime lead, and they rode that the rest of the way.
“South Dakota State is a good team and they shot it well,” said Zags coach Lisa Fortier. “We didn’t execute the game-plan very well, which, believe it or not wasn’t to let them shoot a bunch of 3s. I think we overhelped (on Meyer) at times and that let them get loose for shots.”
Meyer had nine points on 3-of-7 shooting in 30 minutes. The Jacks would gladly take 20-plus points from their senior post every night, but it was nice for Johnston’s team to show him what they’re capable of when an opponent is able to keep Meyer in check.
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“You know it’s coming,” Johnston said. “I think any team out there, if they said, hey, listen, we’re just going to not let this player beat us, can do that, and that’s what opens some things up. That’s where our passing, I think, was really good. Our spacing was really good. We attacked, I think, pressure really well.”
