Another NCAA Tourney

BROOKINGS – South Dakota State will be playing in its 14th NCAA Tournament on Friday as the No. 11 seeded Jackrabbits will take on No. 6 seeded Washington in the first round in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Jacks punched their ticket to the third tournament on March 8 when they beat North Dakota State 64-51 in the Summit League Tournament championship game. SDSU (27-6) has won 10 games in-a-row after losing two games in a five-game stretch in January.

Those two losses to North Dakota State and South Dakota were the first losses in Summit League play for the Jacks since Jan. 8, 2022, and SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said his team has become more mature over the past month and a half and knows what they have to do to be successful.

“We know what we’re good at. We know what we’re not good at. I think we have to just try and lean into the things that make us good. … I think we’ve been executing better [since the end of January]. … I think our team has probably grown the most and shown the most of their maturity is in that competitive side of it.

Staying really focused on things that are helpful for us and try not to be distracted by things,” Johnston said. Washington comes into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 21-10.

The Huskies finished in eighth place in the Big Ten after going 10-8 in conference play.

The Huskies average 71.7 points per game, which is 11th in the Big Ten, but Johnston said they play at a fast pace.

“They’re just really skilled in a lot of ways, really athletic, they’re long and they play really fast, so they’re a team. That style of play is probably different from what we’ve seen these last handful of weeks. They really get up and down the floor and they play just with a lot of pace and a lot of tempo,” Johnston said.

Washington is led by junior guard Sayvia Sellers, who averages 18.5 points per game, which was seventh in the Big Ten this season. The Huskies have two other guards that score in double figures in sophomore Avery Howell (13.7) and senior Elle Ladine (10.4).

Washington shot 34% from three this season, which was 11th in the Big Ten as well. The Huskies average 21.7 3-point attempts per game this year, which is just outside the top 100 in the country.

Johnston said the Huskies like to play on the perimeter, but they can also score inside too.

“On offense, they’ve got four different players that can all play perimeter spots. They can all put it on the floor. They can shoot it.

They’re big inside with their fives and guarding that position. So really different style than what we’ve been going up against here recently. But they’re really going to spread the floor. They’re going to shoot the three really well. They play really fast. And because of those things, they’re really versatile in defense too,” Johnston said.

SDSU has a record of 6-13 in the NCAA Tournament. Last year the Jacks were a No. 10 seed and beat Oklahoma State in the first round before falling to eventual National Champion UConn in the second round. SDSU has won in the first round five times and the lone time the Jacks won in the second round was in 2019 when they made it to the Sweet 16.

This will be the fourth NCAA Tournament for seniors Ellie Colbeck, Brooklyn Meyer and Madison Mathiowetz as the Jacks have made the tournament every year of their careers. Colbeck said it means a lot to get to the Big Dance every season and that experience should help SDSU come Friday.

“[Making the NCAA Tournament all four years is] something that me, Brooklyn, and Maddie had talked about wanting to do,” Colbeck said.

“I think it speaks to just like a lot of hard work over the four years to get that accomplished. Yeah, super meaningful. I think it’s just fun to look back at our careers and know that we can say that we did that, and that’s pretty rare.

“... It’s definitely nice to have experience going into those games. They’re just different. They’re faster. They’re more physical. The atmosphere is a little different. It can be a little nerve wracking to go play in that tournament as well. So just I think having that experience is going to be super helpful, especially for our underclassmen to lean on that leadership as well.

SDSU went 2-3 against NCAA Tournament teams this season. The Jacks beat Murray State and Gonzaga, but lost to Duke, North Carolina and Texas.

The Jacks are known for playing tournament teams in the non-conference portion of their schedule to help prepare them for the teams they might face in March. SDSU sophomore guard Emilee Fox says the experience that the seniors have built throughout their career from facing teams like Washington will give them confidence and that will feed into the other players as well.

“I think that kinda comes down to our seniors. Obviously they’ve done this for the past three years. So, just their leadership is really gonna carry us through this. I’m just really looking forward to it. I feel like we have a lot of momentum coming into the tournament too, and that should be a big help as well,” Fox said.

The winner between the Jacks and the Huskies will play either No. 3 TCU or No. 14 UC San Diego. You can watch Friday’s game on ESPN News or the ESPN app.

Holtan is the Beacon’s sports editor and welcomes tips and comments at sports@brookingsbeacon.com