BROOKINGS — South Dakota State won its 13th-straight game on Thursday night as the Jackrabbits took care of business against Kansas City, beating the Roos 74-53.

SDSU improved to 19-5 overall and 11-0 in the Summit League with the win.

“I thought it was a good win for us,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston. “An important win. … Honestly I thought we played better at times than it felt. We’ve come off of a stretch where we’ve shot the ball so well and it seemed like we made everything, and not every game is going to go that way. Can we manage to defend well and do things well enough when you’re not making shots? Tonight, that’s what I saw out there.”

Brooklyn Meyer led SDSU with 25 points and seven rebounds. She scored the first nine points of the game and Johnston said SDSU’s offense works much better when they play through her.

“We’re a better team when Brooklyn gets touches. It’s her scoring, which tonight was the way it started, but she’s also such a good passer. She gets good shots for us and is a big part of our offense,” Johnston said.

Brooklyn Meyer is now averaging 16.3 points, eight rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. It was the fifth time this season that she scored more than 20 points in a game and Johntston said she has made the most of getting a bigger role in her sophomore season.

“Last year she was a good player for us but just didn’t play as much because of the players around her. So this year, her opportunity is much bigger. She’s playing [30] minutes a game and last year she came in and fit into what we did. This year, we kind of run things for her,” Johnston said.

It was 6-6 three and a half minutes into the game and the Jackrabbits closed the first quarter on a 17-5 run and led 23-11 heading into the second. SDSU stretched its lead to 32-16 with just over two minutes to play in the first half and led 35-21 at halftime.

The Jacks then stretched the lead to 43-25 with six minutes left in the third and led 57-41 heading into the fourth. SDSU led 59-43 with 8:36 to play and then went on a 15-1 run to put the game out of reach.

SDSU played in a two-three zone on defense for most of the game. The Jacks held the Roos to 35.7% shooting from the field and Kansas City was 4-of-16 from the field. SDSU senior forward Tori Nelson said they wanted to throw a different look at the Roos and it worked.

“I think [Kansas City] is really quick and they want to put the ball on the floor. They do a lot of dribble-drive when you’re in man. I think we switched into that two-three to give them a different look and mix things up. It worked and we stuck with that and saw how the game went,” Nelson said.

The Jacks shot 42.4% from the field and were 7-of-20 from three. Paige Meyer had 12 points and Madison Mathiowetz had 11 points. Nelson had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Johnston said Nelson plays a big role for the Jacks because she’s so versatile and is a good leader.

“She was really assertive tonight in the middle of that zone, trying to find some shots. She rebounded really well and is a good passer. … She’s a big part of what we do offensively and defensively. We really rely on her leadership and as a senior that’s what you want,” Johnston said.

SDSU forced 15 turnovers and scored 20 points off of them. Johnston said it was key for them to score off of the Roos mistakes because they didn’t shoot the ball efficiently on Thursday night.

“It was really important. Especially tonight because our offense was a little sluggish. We were trying to get a couple easy ones if we could and take them out of their rhythm and it was important. I thought we defended really well,” Johnston said.

The Jacks had 36 rebounds and the Roos had 40. SDSU was 17-of-23 at the free throw line and Kansas City was 9-of-16 at the charity stripe. The Jacks had 34 points in the paint and the Roos had 24.

SDSU lost its third player to a season-ending injury a week and a half ago when Madysen Vlastuin suffered a knee injury. Since then SDSU has won three-straight games by 15 points or more. Nelson said her and her teammates didn’t have time to sulk after the injury and a lot of different players have stepped up.

“Obviously we were all bummed about losing [Vlastuin]. She does a lot for us, but we didn’t really have a choice. We had a quick turnaround to our next game after she was injured. I think those adversity moments can pull us together more and I think we did a good job of leaning on each other and looking at the next person up and filling those roles,” Nelson said.

SDSU is down to 10 healthy players on its roster and two of them played just three minutes on Thursday night. Brooklyn Meyer said it’s been tougher having to play more minutes but the Jacks are going to play through it.

“We’ve had some people step up. [Tori Tollefson] has been playing a lot for us and she’s been doing really well. I feel like everyone has been playing more minutes, but overall we’re doing a good job of pushing through those moments where we’re getting tired and just staying together,” Brooklyn Meyer said.

The Jackrabbits will remain at home on Saturday as they host Omaha. Tip off between the Jacks and Mavericks is scheduled for 2 p.m. and you can watch the game on Midco Sports or the Summit League Network.