As we enter the final week of the Summit League regular season, two teams are chasing the South Dakota State women's basketball team for second place in the standings, the same pair of teams the Jackrabbits face at home this week: Western Illinois and IUPUI.

SDSU notched a pair of victories last week, starting with a 60-49 win at Omaha Wednesday.  In that game, survived a 24 percent shooting performance with a defense that limited the Mavericks to just 22 second half points.  The Jacks seven-point halftime cushion also helped, especially considering they were out short 48 to 42 percent in the first half by UNO.  SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston on the Omaha game:

USD v SDSU Women's basketball
BROOKINGS, SD - FEBRUARY 21: Mariah Clarin #40 from South Dakota State ties up Lisa Loeffler #44 from the University of South Dakota in the second half of their game Saturday evening at Frost Arena in Brookings. (Photo by Dave Eggen/Inertia)
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South Dakota State ran its current win streak to three with a 77-67 win over South Dakota Saturday afternoon in Brookings.  The victory kept the Coyotes from clinching their first ever Summit League regular season crown.  The Jacks did it by being the more aggressive team, winning the battle of the boards and outscoring USD by 12 on second chance points.  Coach Johnston says that was a key to the game:

This week begins with a match-up against Western Illinois Thursday night at Frost Arena.  The Jacks beat the Leathernecks 74-61 in Macomb last month, thanks to 51 percent shooting and a plus-18 point margin on the board and in the paint. Coach Johnston knows that will be tough to duplicate against WIU in the rematch:

Tipoff is 7:00 PM Thursday in Brookings.

 

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