MACOMB, Ill. – South Dakota State women’s basketball coach Aaron Johnston picked up his 450th win as the Jackrabbits held off Western Illinois, 93-84, Friday night in their Summit League opener at Western Hall.

The Jackrabbits improved to 9-5 (1-0) while the Leathernecks drop to 4-10 (0-1).

SDSU had five players score in double digits led by Macy Miller and Madison Guebert, who each scored 20 points. Tagyn Larson added 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Myah Selland and Paiton Burckhard each chipped in 11 points.

Miller went 8-of-10 from the field, playing just 22 minutes due to foul trouble. She fouled out at the 5:45 mark of the fourth quarter.

Western Illinois was led by Elizabeth Lutz’s game-high 28 points off the bench.

In the first quarter, Miller scored nine consecutive points to give the Jackrabbits a 14-9 lead with 3:47 to play. A Guebert 3-pointer at 2:32 capped a 7-1 run to put SDSU up 21-10.

Western Illinois used a 12-2 run to tie the game at 29 with 5:46 to play in the second. A 10-2 run pushed the Jackrabbits’ lead to 45-34 at 2:36 when Guebert scored five consecutive points. Burckhard netted the final four points for SDSU to give the Jacks a 49-37 halftime lead.

Lindsey Theuninck and Larson combined for eight points to give SDSU a 71-60 cushion with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. The Leathernecks cut the deficit to 71-66 at the end of the quarter when Lutz sank back-to-back 3-pointers.

Larson and Tylee Irwin scored the Jackrabbits’ first nine points to open the final quarter and give SDSU an 80-68 lead at 6:40. Western Illinois got as close a six points twice, the last at 4:49.

Notes

The Jackrabbits improved to 10-2 in Summit League openers, including a 5-1 mark on the road. ... Johnston’s career record is now 450-154 (.745), including 152-31 (.830) in Summit League games. ... With 1,534 career points, Guebert moved from 21st to 20th on the Summit League’s all-time chart. ... Miller has 1,956 career points.

Up Next

South Dakota State plays Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Ind.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 93, WESTERN ILLINOIS 84

South Dakota State (9-5, 1-0 Summit)

Madison Guebert 6-15 4-4 20, Macy Miller 8-10 2-2 20, Tagyn Larson 5-6 2-4 14, Myah Selland 5-9 1-1 11, Tylee Irwin 2-5 2-2 7, Paiton Burckhard 4-5 3-4 11, Lindsey Theuninck 2-4 0-0 5, Sydney Palmer 2-4 0-0 4, Rylie Cascio Jensen 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 34-59 15-19 93.

Western Illinois (4-10, 0-1 Summit)

Grace Gilmore 5-8 2-2 13, Olivia Kaufmann 4-11 3-4 12, Annabel Graettinger 2-9 7-11 11, Taylor Higginbotham 2-7 0-0 6, Jinda Guidinger 0-0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Lutz 9-14 4-4 28, Kyra Washington 5-6 0-0 14, Danni Nichols 0-1 0-0 0, Avery Hamm 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 16-21 84.

SDSU 25  24  22  22  –  93

WIU   16  21  29  18  –  84

3-point goals – SDSU 10-23 (Guebert 4-11, Larson 2-2, Miller 2-3, Theuninck 1-2, Irwin 1-3, Selland 0-1, Cascio Jensen 0-1), WIU 14-34 (Lutz 6-10, Washington 4-4, Higginbotham 2-4, Gilmore 1-2, Kaufmann 1-7, Hamm 0-2, Graettinger 0-5). Rebounds – SDSU 37 (Larson 8), WIU 23 (Kaufmann 6). Assists – SDSU 21 (Cascio Jensen 6), WIU 14 (Gilmore 4). Steals – SDSU 11 (Miller 4), WIU 13 (Higginbotham 4). Blocks – SDSU 2 (Larson, Burckhard 1), WIU 4 (Higginbotham 2). Turnovers – SDSU 24, WIU 20. Total fouls – 24, WIU 20. Fouled out – Miller, Gilmore. Technical fouls – none. A – 389.