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

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.

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
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 →

2020–21 Summit League women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 25 South Dakota State	14	–	0		1.000			21	–	4		.840
South Dakota	12	–	2		.857			19	–	6		.760
North Dakota State	9	–	7		.563			15	–	9		.625
Kansas City	7	–	8		.467			10	–	12		.455
Western Illinois	6	–	8		.429			8	–	16		.333
Denver	5	–	9		.357			7	–	16		.304
Omaha	4	–	8		.333			7	–	13		.350
Oral Roberts	4	–	8		.333			6	–	15		.286
North Dakota	2	–	13		.133			2	–	19		.095
† 2021 Summit League Tournament winner As of December 2, 2021 Rankings from AP poll

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 (UW–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		Creighton	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 Northern Iowa	L 48–65	3–2	McLeod Center  Cedar Falls, IA
December 15, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		Drake	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 Montana State	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		Western Illinois	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 Omaha	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+		North Dakota	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 Denver			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	South Dakota	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 North Dakota State	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	Kansas City	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

1. "Women's basketball adds Haley Greer". South Dakota State University Athletics. June 24, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
2. "Women's basketball announces three signees". South Dakota State University Athletics. November 13, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
3. "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". South Dakota State University Athletics. June 24, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2021.