South Dakota State routs North Dakota for seventh consecutive win

Matt Zimmer
Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Tagyn Larson goes up for a shot in Thursday's win over North Dakota at Frost Arena

BROOKINGS – If North Dakota is the third-best team in the Summit League, we’re probably looking at a two-team race this year.

South Dakota State, tied for first place with No. 25 South Dakota, walloped the third place Fighting Hawks 99-64 in front of 1,603 Frost Arena fans on Thursday night, the Jackrabbits’ seventh straight win. They’re 6-0 in conference play, having taken care of all comers leading into the first showdown with the rival Coyotes, who also stayed unbeaten in the Summit League on Thursday with an 80-36 nail-biter over North Dakota State. The Jacks and USD square off Saturday in Vermillion.

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UND had won three of its first four conference games and brought what’s been one of the league’s better defensive teams, so there was some thought that this would be their chance to show they belonged in the discussion of contenders with the South Dakota schools. If proving that point was on their agenda, the Jacks humbled them decisively.

SDSU took control in the first quarter, taking a 26-14 lead after one, and they’d pushed it to 29 by the end of the third.

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Lindsey Theuninck fires a jumper during Thursday's win over North Dakota at Frost Arena

 “We played really hard the whole game,” said Paiton Burckhard, who was 9-of-12 from the floor and 9-for-9 at the line for a career-high 27 points. “We came out really strong, and that’s a thing we tried to focus on and we did it the whole game. That made it tough for them to stop us.”

The Jacks (14-6) were an even 30-for-60 from the floor but scored a whopping 33 points at the free-throw line in 41 attempts, an 80.5 percent clip. Not bad for a team that’s shooting well below 70 percent for the season (but is now shooting 79 percent in league play). Tagyn Larson had 17 points and seven rebounds, Tori Nelson 16 points and Tylee Irwin nine points and 10 rebounds.  Megan Bultsma had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Rylie Cascio Jensen and Sydney Stapleton each had six assists.

The Jacks have battled injuries throughout the season, and when leading scorer Myah Selland went down, they clearly switched up their gameplan in the short term to rely more heavily on defense while the offense sorted itself out. That sorting process appears complete, as Burckhard is averaging 19.8 points per game in conference play while SDSU has averaged 95 points over its last three.

Paiton Burckhard was SDSU's leading scorer in Thursday's win over North Dakota at Frost Arena

 “All year we worked really hard on defense and we’re continuing to do that,” Larson said. “But now our offense is really coming along. People are getting more comfortable and looking to score.”

It was a deflating night for the Hawks (12-6, 3-2), as they were a putrid 1-for-22 from 3-point land and lost the rebound battle 48-36. They came in holding opponents to 64 points per game and saw the Jacks run them over, but the shooting woes were even more disappointing.

“I do feel like it was an off night for us,” said Hawks guard Kacie Borowicz. “I think we were getting good looks and the normal shots we needed to take and they just weren’t falling for us tonight. We worked on how they’d defend us and we knew the shots would be there. We just couldn’t get them to go in.”

Julia Fleecs had 15 points to lead UND, while Borowicz had 11 and Jaclyn Jarnot nine points and seven boards. The Hawks travel to North Dakota State on Sunday for what should be a far more winnable game, but the rout they suffered at the hands of the Jacks surely humbled them.

“Without question I wanted to see where we’re at and see what we have to do, and you’ve got to earn it,” Hawks coach Travis Brewster said of measuring his squad against SDSU. “Nobody’s gonna give anything to you. I’m OK with where our team is at, I really am. Nobody sets out to lose but when you’re this young it takes some time. I have to be patient with this team and they have to be patient with themselves.”