Jackrabbits Double-Win, Same Scores Defeat Coyotes

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Playing at separate venues on Saturday the Interstate Series between South Dakota and South Dakota State men's and women's basketball ended with a WOW result. The Jacks won both games - by the same score.

South Dakota State (11-9, 4-1 Summit League) cruised to a road victory using a strong effort on both ends of the floor and never trailed en route to a 73-55 win over South Dakota (9-11, 2-3 Summit League).

The Jackrabbits jumped out to a 12-2 lead five minutes into the contest before back-to-back possessions saw the Yotes cut into the deficit and make it a 12-8 score. An eight-point scoring run, behind two field goals apiece by Luke Appel and William Kyle III, saw the Jacks jump ahead 20-10 at the 11:44 mark of the first half.

South Dakota's Kaleb Stewart hit a 3-pointer to cap an eight-point spree and make it a 45-42 score with 13:01 left, but a dunk by Kyle III and a Zeke Mayo 3-pointer pushed the margin back to eight for the Jackrabbits at 50-42. The Yotes followed with the next five points thanks to an Isaac Bruns jumper and 3-pointer by Max Burchill to cut it to 50-47 with 10:43 remaining.

The victory for South Dakota State is the men's program's seventh straight over South Dakota. The Jackrabbits matched an 18-point victory over the Yotes in Vermillion a season ago and SDSU has now won 21 of the two sides' last 27 matchups.

The rematch of this rivalry series is Feb. 4 in Brookings.

South Dakota State returns to Frost Arena on Thursday, January 25, when the Jackrabbits host Kansas City.

USD takes to the road next week with contests at Denver Thursday and Kansas City Saturday.

The Coyotes jumped out to an 11-2 start in the opening five minutes and after junior Alexi Hempe knocked down buzzer-beater to end the first frame the Coyotes led 21-14.

The Jackrabbits responded with 15 unanswered points in the second quarter and turned a deficit into an eight-point lead entering intermission. The Coyotes’ shooting went cold through the second and third quarter as SDSU pushed its lead to 13 entering the fourth period. SDSU shot 48.1 percent (25-of-52) for the game as the Jacks went on to win 73-55.

It was all Jackrabbits from the second quarter on. The Jacks put the clamps on on the defensive end and opened the second on a 15-0 run to lead 29-21 before USD's first bucket. Ellie Colbeck drained a pair of 3-pointers during the nearly five-minute stretch.

South Dakota State forward Tori Nelson led the Jacks with 15 points, while centers Brooklyn Meyer and Mesa Byom added 13 and 10 apiece, respectively.

South Dakota returns home to host Denver at 7:00 PM Thursday.

South Dakota State goes on the road to take on Kansas City Thursday night before returning to Frost to host Oral Roberts Sunday afternoon.