2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball team

2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball
2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball
The Summit League regular season championship
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Summit League
Ranking
AP	No. 25
2020–21 record	21–4 (14–0 The Summit)
Head coach	Aaron Johnston (21st full, 22nd overall season);
Assistant coaches	Mike Jewett; Carissa Thielbar; Megan Lueck;
Home arena	Frost Arena
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball represent South Dakota State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Jackrabbits, led by twenty-first year head coach Aaron Johnston, compete in the Summit League. They play home games in Frost Arena in Brookings, South Dakota.

Previous Season[]

The Jackrabbits went 23–10 overall and 13–3 in conference play, finishing second.

South Dakota State played North Dakota in the quarterfinals winning 72-43 and then followed it up two days later with a win in the semifinals against North Dakota State 76-56. The Jackrabbits made an appearance in the championship game against the 17th ranked South Dakota Coyotes, playing the Coyotes close they Jackrabbits fell short 58-63.

The postseason was put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak and hopes for a possible NCAA at-large bid or automatic WNIT birth was dashed.

Departures[]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Rylie Cascio Jensen	2	G	5'10"	Senior	Fremont, NE	Graduated
Tagyn Larson	24	F	6'2"	RS-Senior	Sioux Falls, SD	Graduated
Megan Bultsma	50	C	6'3"	Senior	Plankinton, SD	Graduated

Additions[]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Haley Greer	11	G	5'10"	Senior	Winnetka, IL	Graduate transfer from Colgate^[1]
Madysen Vlastuin	22	F	6'1"	Freshman	Lennox SD	Signed for the 2020-21 season ^[2]
Emily Herzberg	4	G	6'0"	Freshman	Melrose, WI	Signed for the 2020-21 season
Mesa Byom	24	F	6'2"	Freshman	Melrose, WI	Signed for the 2020-21 season

Roster[]

2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	3	Lindsey Theuninck	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	RS Jr	Mankato Loyola	Mankato, MN
G	4	Emily Herzberg	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Melrose-Mindoro HS	Melrose, WI
G	10	Lauren Rongisch	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	RS So	Millard West HS	Omaha, NE
G	11	Haley Greer	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	GS	New Trier HS Colgate	Winnetka, IL
F	12	Kallie Theisen	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Wayzata High School	Plymouth, MN
F	20	Tori Nelson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Henry Sibley High School	Mendota Heights, MN
G	21	Tylee Irwin	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Wahpeton	Wahpeton, ND
F	22	Madysen Vlastuin	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Lennox HS	Lennox, SD
F	24	Mesa Byom	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Melrose-Mindoro HS	Melrose, WI
F	30	Jordan Ferrand	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	White Bear Lake HS	Lino Lakes, MN
F	33	Paiton Burckhard	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Central HS	Aberdeen, SD
F	35	Sydney Stapleton	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Centennial HS	Blaine, MN
F	42	Regan Nesheim	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Fr	Johnston High School	Johnston, IA
G/F	44	Myah Selland	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Jr	Sanborn Central/Woonsocket HS	Letcher, SD
C	52	Addison Hirschman	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Kingsley-Pierson HS	Kingsley, IA

Head coach

Aaron Johnston (Gustavus Adolphus)

Assistant coach(es)

Mike Jewett (Augustana (SD))
Carissa Thielbar (Wisconsin-Superior)
Megan Lueck (Minnesota-Duluth)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule[]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 28, 2020* 2:00 PM, MIDCOSN/ESPN3		No. 15 Iowa State	W 76–69	1–0	Frost Arena (678) Brookings, SD
November 30, 2020* 6:00 PM, MIDCOSN/ESPN3			W 66–47	2–0	Frost Arena Brookings, SD
December 6, 2020* 2:00 PM		No. 18 Gonzaga	W 75–72 ^OT	3–0	Frost Arena (583) Brookings, SD
December 10, 2020* 6:30 PM, ESPN+	No. 22	at Kansas State	L 53–62	3–1	Bramlage Coliseum (437) Manhattan, KS
December 12, 2020* 3:00 PM, ESPN3	No. 22	at	L 48–65	3–2	McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA
December 15, 2020* 6:00 PM, ESPN3			W 87–73	4–2	Frost Arena Brookings, SD
December 19, 2020* 1:00 PM, ESPN3		at No. 20 Missouri State	W 60–52	5–2	JQH Arena Springfield, MO
December 21, 2020* 1:00 PM		at	W 82–67	6–2	Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT
December 23, 2020* 2:00 PM, ESPN3		Northern Iowa	W 74–63	7–2	Frost Arena Brookings, SD
Summit League regular season
January 8, 2021 5:00 PM			W 71-61	8-2 (1-0)	Frost Arena (504) Brookings, SD
January 9, 2021 5:00 PM		Western Illinois	W 87-66	9-2 (2-0)	Frost Arena (553) Brookings, SD
January 15, 2021 3:00 PM		at	W 62-50	10-2 (3-0)	Baxter Arena (169) Omaha, NE
January 16, 2021 3:00 PM		at Omaha	W 64-54	11-2 (4-0)	Baxter Arena (207) Omaha, NE
January 22, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN+			W 81-52	12-2 (5-0)	Frost Arena (594) Brookings, SD
January 23, 2021 5:00 PM		North Dakota	W 66-44	13-2 (6-0)	Frost Arena (558) Brookings, SD
January 29, 2021 5:00 PM	No. 25	at			Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
January 30, 2021 5:00 PM	No. 25	at Denver			Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
February 5, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN3	No. 23		W 64–45	14–2 (7–0)	Frost Arena (808) Brookings, SD
February 6, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN3	No. 23	South Dakota	W 80–75	15–2 (8–0)	Frost Arena (835) Brookings, SD
February 13, 2021 2:00 PM	No. 23	at Oral Roberts	W 82–60	16–2 (9–0)	Mabee Center (1013) Tulsa, OK
February 14, 2021 2:00 PM	No. 23	at Oral Roberts	W 73–61	17–2 (10–0)	Mabee Center (0) Tulsa, OK
February 19, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN3	No. 23	at	W 86–78	18–2 (11–0)	Scheels Center (1005) Fargo, ND
February 20, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN3	No. 23	at North Dakota State	W 69–60	19–2 (12–0)	Scheels Center (1955) Fargo, ND
February 26, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN3	No. 22		W 73–53	20–2 (13–0)	Frost Arena (640) Brookings, SD
February 27, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN+	No. 22	Kansas City	W 72–66	21–2 (14–0)	Frost Arena (629) Brookings, SD
Summit League Women's Tournament
March 6, 2021 11:45 AM, ESPN+/MidcoSN	(1) No. 22	vs. (8) Omaha Quarterfinals	L 40–52	21–3	Denny Sanford Premier Center (200) Sioux Falls, SD
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 21, 2021* 4:30 PM, ESPN2	(9 R) No. 25	vs. (8 R) Syracause First Round	L 55–72	21–4	Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source:^[3]

Rankings[]

2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Final
AP	RV	RV	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	23	23	23	22	21	25	25
Coaches	RV	*	21	RV	25	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	24	22	25	RV

**Legend**
		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked

References[]

^ "Women's basketball adds Haley Greer". South Dakota State University Athletics. 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
^ "Women's basketball announces three signees". South Dakota State University Athletics. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
^ "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". South Dakota State University Athletics. 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2021-03-26.

[1] "Women's basketball adds Haley Greer". South Dakota State University Athletics. 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2021-03-26.

[2] "Women's basketball announces three signees". South Dakota State University Athletics. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2021-03-26.

[3] "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". South Dakota State University Athletics. 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2021-03-26.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball
Venues	Frost Arena (1973–present)
Culture & lore	""
People	Head coaches
	2002–03 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22


v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 25 South Dakota State	14	–	0	1.000	21	–	4	.840
	12	–	2	.857	19	–	6	.760
	9	–	7	.563	15	–	9	.625
	7	–	8	.467	10	–	12	.455
	6	–	8	.429	8	–	16	.333
	5	–	9	.357	7	–	16	.304
	4	–	8	.333	7	–	13	.350
Oral Roberts	4	–	8	.333	6	–	15	.286
	2	–	13	.133	2	–	19	.095

† 2021 Summit League Tournament winner As of December 2, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll