End of an era

Brooklyn Meyer ended her South Dakota State career with one of the best performances in schoo history at the NCAA Tournament.

Meyer had 29 points, which tied the SDSU record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game, in a 72-54 loss to Washington on Friday in the first round. However, that performance was nothing new when you look back at her four-year career.

Meyer finished her career with 2,097 points, which is third in SDSU history.

Meyer set the SDSU record for points in a season with 767 in her senior season and set the program record for points in a game with 44 against Oral Roberts on Feb. 19.

Meyer is the SDSU leader in career field goal percentage at 60.9%. She is fifth in career rebounds with 850 and second in career field goals with 823. She tied Clarrisa Ober for second in career blocks with 174.

Despite those stats being impressive, what Meyer accomplished in wins and losses is even more impressive. Meyer, Madison Mathiowetz and Ellie Colbeck finished their careers with an overall record of 113-23 and went 76-2 against Summit League opponents. They helped the Jackrabbits win four-straight Summit League Tournaments and two NCAA Tournament games during their four-year careers.

SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston reflected on the seniors’ legacy after the loss to Washington.

“It’s hard to define [their legacy] because there’s a couple ways to do it,” Johnston said. “If you look at statistics, wins, championships and postseasons, I’m not sure there’s been a better four-year run. I’m sure there’s been some that have been equal, but there hasn’t been a better four-year run.

“… I always go back to who they are as people though. As people, they are unbelievable people and they’ve been great leaders throughout their time at SDSU.”

After Meyer played her last game in Brookings on Feb. 28, where she scored 33 points in a 82-49 win over South Dakota, Johnston said Meyer may have had the best career in Summit League history.

“What Brooklyn has done for her career, it’s hard to say somebody’s had a better career than Brooklyn in the Summit League. I mean, you might say someone’s had as good of a year or something like that, but as a career, whoever those really good players are, she’s up there with them,” Johnston said.

Meyer has been the catalyst inside for the Jacks for the past three seasons, averaging over 16 points per game in each season. Given the Jacks’ non-conference schedule and who they’ve played in the NCAA Tournament, Meyer has seen the best of the best in her four years at South Dakota State.

Colbeck said after the Jacks won the Summit League Tournament on March 8 that she knows she played with an all-time great in her four years at SDSU.

“Brooklyn has just been insane all four years. Honestly, I remember her coming off the bench as a freshman and scoring against 6-foot-7 [Kamilla] Cardoso from South Carolina. I knew from that moment, man, she’s going to make a big wave in the Summit League. And she did, she proved that. Yeah, she’s insane,” Colbeck said.

Ahead of the NCAA Tournament game against Washington, Mathiowetz reflected on her time with Meyer and echoed Colbeck’s thoughts.

“I’m sitting next to greatness, first of all. … Brooklyn brings so much to our team, on both sides of the court. Obviously her offensive presence has just been so dominant and her defensive ability is just off the charts. So, I mean, all around just a great player and she leads so well to help our team be successful,” Mathiowetz said.

Meyer etched her name into the SDSU history books with the way she finished her career and joined the likes of all-time Jackrabbit greats like Macy Miller, Myah Selland, Shannon Schlagel and Megan Vogel. Just like those players, Meyer will always be talked about when Jackrabbit fans bring up the success of women’s basketball.

She was able to think about her and her fellow seniors’ spot in SDSU history after the Summit League title game and said completing a four-peat of tournament titles put an exclamation point on their careers.

“I feel like we’ve all put together, you know, careers that we can be really proud of. I feel like every year it’s been different. Every year there’s ups and downs and there’s different things that you have to work through. This one just feels really sweet based on, you know, all the things that we had to go through and push through,” Meyer said.