Jacks fall to Washington

FORT WORTH, Texas – South Dakota State’s season came to an end on Friday afternoon as the Jackrabbits lost to Washington 72-54 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 11 seeded Jacks got off to a strong start but it was all Huskies in the final 35 minutes of the game. 

SDSU (27-7) made five of its first seven shots and led 13-3 near the midway points of the first quarter. The No. 6 seeded Huskies (22-10) then went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 13-12 with 1:53 to go in the opening quarter. Madison Mathiowetz stopped the run with a lay up but then Avery Howell made a 3-pointer to make it 15-15 going into the second quarter.

Washington took the lead 55 seconds into the third with a three from Howell and then went up 24-17 with another triple from her with 6:32 to go in the first half. Emilee Fox then hit a three but the Huskies would answer with a 10-0 run to push the lead to 34-20 with two minutes to play in the first half. The two teams traded baskets in the final two minutes and Washington took a 34-20 lead into halftime. SDSU turned it over eight times in the second quarter and Washington scored 13 points off turnovers in the first half.

The Huskies scored the first basket of the second half and then Brooklyn Meyer went on a personal 7-0 run to make it 40-31 a minute and a half into the third. Salyvia Sellers then made a bucket on the other end and Howell dropped in another triple to push the lead to 45-31 a minute later.

Howell kept the scoring going with another three with 3:13 to go to make it 54-38. The Huskies then lead 61-43 going into the fourth.

The final dagger for SDSU came when Howell made a lay up and followed that with a 3-pointer to make it 68-46 with 5:34 left in the game. The Huskies largest lead of the game came with 4:33 to go when they went up 72-48.

SDSU shot 44.2% from the field and was 5-of-14 from three. The Jacks had 18 turnovers in the game.

Meyer scored 29 points and had seven rebounds in the final game of her career. She finishes third on the SDSU all-time scoring list.

Emilee Fox was the only other Jackrabbit to score in double figures with 14 points.

Washington shot 41.5% from the field and was 9-of-23 from deep. Howell had 30 points and nine rebounds to lead the Huskies. She was 7-of-13 from three. No other Washington player scored in double figures.

The Huskies dominated the rebound battle 40-25. Washington was 9-of-12 at the free throw line and SDSU was 3-of-3.

This was SDSU’s fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the 14th in the past 18 seasons. The Jacks are now 6-14 in tournament games. This was Washington’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2017.