How Sweet It Was

Flying from coast to coast on its historic NCAA tournament adventure, the SDSU women’s basketball team barely touched down in Brookings between trips to Syracuse, New York, and Portland, Oregon.

Their feet were never truly on the ground—and for good reason, the team was on its first NCAA Sweet 16^® appearance. After defeating a pesky Quinnipiac team 76-65 in the first round, the sixth-seeded Jackrabbits challenged one of the recent powers of women’s basketball on the Orange’s own court and pulled a come-from-behind upset that sent players scrambling into a group hug at the buzzer.

The late-night win March 25 sent the team and its thousands of fans into an orbit that left them waking up in their own beds the following morning, but in the case of the Jackrabbits delegation, it wasn’t until arriving after 3 a.m.

After the 1,300-mile charter flight, players had one day to repack their suitcases and perhaps attend a class or two before catching a bus to the Sioux Falls airport.

But the Jacks didn’t quietly exit Brookings. Hundreds of fans lined Medary Avenue and Sixth Street for their 1 p.m. drive through town, embracing the players as heroes. “Winning moments can connect so many people,” said coach Aaron Johnston, whose teams had won first-round games two other years but never a second-round game.

Oregon: A tall challenge

The team arrived in Portland late Wednesday and had Thursday to practice in the Moda Center before taking on seventh-ranked Oregon at 10:30 p.m. Friday Brookings time.

“It’s a professional arena that holds more than 19,000 people, home to the Portland Trailblazers. The thought goes through your mind that world-class athletes play on that floor. It didn’t feel like it was being played in their (the Ducks) gym,” Johnston said.

Early on SDSU played like it was in Frost Arena and held a 7-3 lead. Then the sails that had carried the Jackrabbits through a regular season Summit League title, a Summit League Tournament championship, two rounds of the NCAA Championship and an 18-game win streak got caught in the hooks of 6-foot-4 Ruthy Hebard (14 rebounds, four blocked shots) and 6-4 Satou Sabally (nine rebounds, three blocked shots).

Though SDSU had played Oregon to within eight points (87-79) in Frost Arena Dec. 12, 2018, the postseason matchup would not be as competitive.

State struggled shooting, hitting only 20 percent in the first half (8 of 39) and 27 percent overall (20 of 75) as the Ducks flew to a 18-12 first-quarter lead and midway in the third quarter held their biggest lead of the game—47-28.
The Jackrabbits never threatened, but they never quit, winning the fourth quarter and scoring the last six points in the 63-53 loss.

“We played great basketball every way except being able to put the ball in the basket,” Johnston said. We rebounded great (47-44 SDSU advantage); we played defense great (held Oregon to 23 points below its average); we handled the ball great (just three turnovers). But at that level you have to play great at all levels.”

Oregon posted one more victory; reaching the Final Four where it lost to Baylor, the eventual national champ and a six-point victor over SDSU Nov. 23.

Play the best to be the best

It is that type of scheduling that has made SDSU a nine-time NCAA Division I Tournament qualifier, Johnston said, adding it will be what one year allows SDSU to reach an Elite Eight.

“There is not any one thing that has to change. We just have to grow the way we have. We have played 10 or 11 of the teams that were in this year’s Sweet 16 in our history. As we do that in our regular season, we continue to figure out plans for when we get to that point again (in the tournament), we will be better prepared.

“The process helps us be a little more prepared. That scheduling plan has really paid off,” Johnston said.

Since early in its Division I era, the Jackrabbits have been able to schedule top opponents and often get them to travel to Brookings.

Johnston explained, “The value part for us is getting to play elite teams. From their prospective, it’s not like people are lining up to play Notre Dame and Oregon. They don’t want to play teams that won’t help their program. None of them are surprised we’re a good team or surprised that Frost Arena is a tough place to play. They’re looking for that challenge to improve their program, just like we’re looking for that challenge.”

Talented, resilient, close-knit

Going into the season, Johnston thought this could be the team that took the extra step.

“We had talented players and several players that were undervalued, like Myah (Selland), Tagyn (Larson) and Tylee (Irwin). We needed to stay healthy, which we did. And we made big plays. In the conference tournament we had some amazing stretches of basketball.

“We had the resiliency to overcome the in-game obstacles. We had to overcome a comeback attempt against Quinnipiac and then were behind against Syracuse.

“The talent was there and they came together as people; they really bonded. In the moment, they made the plays they needed to in crunch times.

We’ve had talented teams that were close to one another, but in those moments, you have to make those plays, and we had a group that did that,” Johnston explained.

The bond that the team had was obvious even to those who didn’t have locker room access.

In addition to a raft of individual awards, this season’s postseason honors included a Heart Behind the 19 Award presented to the team by the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization for the unity and unselfishness exhibited by the team on and off the court, according FCA area representative T.J. Carlson.

Not just teammates but friends

Sydney Palmer, one of three seniors on the team, said, “The images that are still running through my mind are just the constant smiles of all of my teammates and the determination of making a historic run. My teammates are the thing I will never forget through this historic run. They made it so much more memorable.

“I don’t think there is one single memory that sticks out in my head from this season, but I do know I will never forget these teammates. They have brought so many smiles and laughs that will be cherished forever.”

When a team finishes 28-7, there are a lot of options on what to put in the year-end highlight reel, but some of the most special memories are made when no camera is rolling.

Senior Madison Guebert said, “It’s really just all the bus rides, the time in the airports or in the hotel, in the locker rooms and all the team gatherings that we had. There aren’t just a couple (memories) that I could pick to talk about because with having a team full of best friends there are too many memories to pick just a few.”

A famous fat lip

Asked to name her prize souvenir from the Sweet 16 run, Guebert picked a time when the camera was rolling, but not recording anything on the hardwood.

“It’s the video of us in the locker room after winning the Sweet 16 game where AJ gets nailed in the mouth from all the excitement!” she said.

The fat lip Johnston garnered from that Syracuse celebration was his favorite souvenir, he said. “Nothing will top that moment.” Not the water bottle unintentionally knocking into his lip when players sprayed water as he entered the locker room, but “a group of 20-some people (including coaches and support personnel) driven for this common goal and being able to achieve that and celebrate is a memory I will never forget,” Johnston said.

‘Loyal blue’ followed team coast to coast

He added, “The big thing for me is how connecting those experiences—the celebrations after the game—are for everybody. Families are a part of that as well. There’s shared memories interacting with their daughters. The community is a part of that as well.”

Even though SDSU played its tournament games 1,300 miles (Syracuse) and 1,600 miles (Portland) away from home, a remnant of Jackrabbit Nation was always with them.

Among an estimated 100 Jackrabbits fans in Syracuse were longtime season-ticket holders Gary and Sharon Van Riper.

“We have always wanted to attend a regional game and/or the women’s Final Four,” Gary Van Riper said. “The opportunity presented itself and we took advantage. One more item checked off the bucket list.”

In addition to witnessing history and being able to savor the team’s Sweet 16 celebration, the Van Ripers appreciated “the opportunity to get to know the players on a more personal level and to interact with the parents and other SDSU fans in attendance.”

Johnston said, “In both places, we had a lot of loyal blue in the stands. It never once felt like we were doing this on our own. There was a big and diverse group of people—past players traveled from all over, parents, community members. It’s great support for us and a shared memory for them.”

Guebert added, “And there was just so much support of people wishing us luck on social media. We truly had so many people supporting us in so many different ways, it was beyond special to feel all the love and support.”

Senior Macy Miller said, “Jackrabbit Nation is so amazing. Everywhere we traveled this year, the Jackrabbits had more fans than the teams we played on the road. Seeing the Twitter posts and videos of people watching us was awesome to see just how many people were backing us.”

The connections players had with one another and fans had with players as well as the overall program made this history story all the sweeter.

– Dave Graves