BROOKINGS – After winning the Summit League Tournament on Tuesday, the South Dakota State women’s basketball team found out they will be a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 8 seeded USC on Friday in Blacksburg, Virginia.
It is the 11th time in the past 15 seasons that SDSU, who is 28-5 this season and has won 21-straight games, has made the NCAA Tournament. Heading into the selection show on Sunday night, the Jacks were projected to be anywhere from a No. 10 seed to a No. 12 seed. SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said he thought his team was deserving of a No. 9 seed.
“I really felt like we’d be in that nine to 10 range, I really did. Just looking at what we’ve done all year and what we’ve done recently and the teams we’ve beaten, I thought we had a chance to be there, so it wasn’t really a big surprise. It’ll be fun to go to a place we’ve never played before. I’ve never been to that part of Virginia. It’s been a long time since we’ve played USC and that will be a challenge for us too,” Johnston said.
The Jackrabbits’ first round opponent, USC, is 21-9 overall and went 11-7 in the PAC-12. The Trojans finished in sixth place in the PAC-12 and lost to No. 11 seeded Oregon State, 56-48 in the first round of the conference tournament.
Johnston said he doesn’t know much about the Trojans, but it’s good to finally know who SDSU will be facing.
“It’s good to have an opponent now and a destination. … I’ve seen some clips of [USC] and have watched them a little bit, but I wouldn’t really say I’m familiar with them yet, and nobody is at this point. We’ll get into it tonight and watch some film and try to get a plan together,” he said.
This is the third time in the past five seasons that the Jackrabbits are a single-digit seed as they were a nine-seed in 2021 and a six-seed in 2019. SDSU sixth-year senior forward Myah Selland said being a single-digit seed says a lot about where the Jacks are as a program.
“I think it speaks to the consistency of the program. We’ve gotten wins in the tournament before, so I think we’re kind of a familiar face, I know it’s been a few years, but we’re a familiar program,” Selland said.
Selland is one of four seniors on the team and her, Paiton Burckhard and Dru Gylten are the only players on SDSU that have played in an NCAA Tournament game. Burckhard said she wants to make sure that the players that haven’t had the experience of the “big dance” don’t let their emotions get the best of them.
“Myah and I have some experience, and Dru too, being in the NCAA Tournament, so I think we have to be good leaders and bring that calm presence within our team. It’s a big stage with a lot of emotion and excitement around it, but it also could be our last game. So, we just want to make sure everyone is soaking it all in and really having a good time while we’re getting ‘dubs’,” Burckhard said.
The winner of No. 9 seeded SDSU and No. 8 seeded USC will play the winner of No. 1 seeded Virginia Tech and No. 16 seeded Chattanooga. Burckhard said being in the 8/9 matchup in the first round makes for a harder second round game than if SDSU were a double-digit seed, should the Jacks beat the Trojans.
“Obviously this gives us a little bit of a different route to the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8, but ultimately it’s just going to come down taking it game-by-game and taking on the opponent game-by-game. Yeah [the seeding] matters, but it’s March Madness and at this time of the year anything can happen,” Burckhard said.
This will be the third trip to the NCAA Tournament for both Selland and Burckhard and the second tournament appearance for Gylten, who made it with Utah last season. Burckhard said her favorite part about the tournament is seeing how many fans show up to support them on the road.
“This time of the year is so much fun. I think my favorite part is just seeing how many people travel for us. At Cubby’s tonight, we had so many people that showed up and cheered us on and a lot of them told me, ‘I don’t care where you’re going, we’re going where you’re going.’ So, I think that’s probably the best part, seeing Jackrabbit Nation travel with us,” Burckhard said.
SDSU holds a record of 4-10 in the NCAA Tournament. The Jacks have made it out of the first round three times and went to the Sweet 16 in 2019. A game time has not been announced but all NCAA Women’s Tournament games will be broadcasted on the ESPN family of networks.
