BROOKINGS – Hopefully SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston taped his halftime talk to his team on Friday night because his Rabbits came out rocking in the second half of their 80-62 home-opening win over Florida Gulf Coast at Frost Arena.

After trailing by as many as 12 points, 20-8, just after the first media timeout, the Jackrabbits picked up their intensity to get within 37-36 at halftime, and then, went on a 14-0 run over the first 4 minutes of the second half to go up, 50-37.

A Tagyn Larson free throw with 1:24 to play in the third period pushed the margin to 16 points at 57-41 as SDSU led 61-47 heading into the final stanza.

The Eagles never got closer than 12 points in the last 10 minutes as Lindsey Theuninck’s basket in the lane gave the home squad a 23-point lead inside of a minute to play.

Myah Selland cashed in on a layup off the opening tip to give the Jacks the first lead, but five turnovers over the next five minutes helped Florida Gulf Coast build its double-digit lead.

SDSU still trailed 22-12 after 10 minutes, but started chipping away at the deficit in the second quarter.

Madison Guebert’s 3-pointer with 5:42 to play in the half pulled the Jacks within four points at 30-26, and then, Selland scored in the paint with 3:33 on the clock to make it 30-28.

Guebert converted one of two free throws to get SDSU within 30-29 and the Rabbits finally tied the score at 35-35 when Macy Miller hit a jumper in the lane with 38 seconds in the half.

Keri Jewett-Giles drained two free throws to put the Eagles back up by two before Guebert went 1-of-2 with a second to play for the halftime score.

It was all Jackrabbits to start the second half as they held FGCU scoreless for 5 minutes and 16 seconds as Miller capped the 13-0 run with an old-fashioned three-point play. Miller started the run with a layup, and then, Larson sandwiched a 3-pointer and a basket in the lane around a pair of Selland free throws. Selland added a fastbreak layup with 6:53 to play in the third.

Miller finished with a game-high 25 points to go along with three steals and a block while Selland added 15 points, eight assists, three steals and a rejection, as well. Guebert tallied 12 points and Larson 10 as Sydney Palmer came off the bench to pull down a team-high seven boards to help the Jacks’ 41-27 rebounding advantage.

SDSU outscored the Eagles, 46-18, in the paint, as the Jackrabbits evened their record at 1-1.

Chandler Ryan’s 12 points led the Eagles with 12 points as they dropped to 0-1.

Notes (From SDSU Sports Information): The Jackrabbits improved to 47-7 in season home openers, including 11-2 versus Division I opponents. … Miller passed Melissa Pater (1999-2002) for third place in career scoring at SDSU. Miller now has 1,749 points. … Guebert moved into 18th place in career scoring (1,358 points), passing Jennifer Warkenthein (2005-08) and Jill Young (2008-11). … With a pair of 3-pointers, Guebert is now 37 shy of becoming SDSU’s and The Summit League’s all-time 3-point leader, passing Young’s 305 treys.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits are on the road at Central Michigan on Monday.

Tipoff is at 6 p.m.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 80, FLORIDA GULF COAST 62

FGCU (0-1)

Lisa Zderadicka 2-5 6-8 10, Tytionia Adderly 3-4 2-2 9, Keri Jewett-Giles 2-9 2-2 8, Kerstie Phills 3-8 2-2 8, Nasrin Ulel 2-8 2-2 7, Chandler Ryan 4-12 0-0 12, Tanner Bryant 2-2 0-0 5, Destiny Washington 1-2 0-0 3, Davion Wingate 0-1 0-0 0, Tyra Cox 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Blair 0-1 0-0 0, Sheahen Dowling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 14-16 62.

SDSU (1-1)

Macy Miller 10-15 4-5 25, Myah Selland 5-11 4-4 15, Madison Guebert 3-7 4-7 12, Tagyn Larson 4-8 1-2 10, Tylee Irwin 2-5 0-1 4, Paiton Burckhard 3-6 1-2 7, Sydney Palmer 2-4 0-0 5, Lindsey Theuninck 1-2 0-0 2, Rylie Cascio Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Addison Hirschman 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Bultsma 0-0 0-0, Sydney Stapleton 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Ferrand 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-59 14-21 80.

FGCU 22  15  10  15  –  62

SDSU 12  24  25  19  –  80

3-point goals – FGCU 10-34 (Zderadicka 0-1, Adderly 1-2, Jewett-Giles 2-6, Phills 0-4, Ulel 1-5, Ryan 4-11, Bryant 1-1, Washington 1-2, Blair 0-1, Dowling 0-1); SDSU 6-14 (Miller 1-1, Selland 1-2, Guebert 2-4, Larson 1-2, Irwin 0-1, Burckhard 1-2). Rebounds – FGCU 27 (Adderly 6); SDSU 41 (Palmer 7). Assists – FGCU 11 (Zderadicka 4); SDSU 17 (Selland 8). Steals – FGCU 8 (Zderadicka 2, Adderly 2, Jewett-Giles 2); SDSU 7 (Miller 3, Selland 3). Blocks – FGCU 7 (Washington 5); SDSU 3 (Miller, Selland, Irwin). Turnovers – FGCU 17; SDSU 16. Total fouls – FGCU 24; SDSU 21. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None. A – 1,678.