BROOKINGS — South Dakota State improved to 2-0 on Friday night as the Jackrabbits knocked off No. 21 Creighton 76-71 in their first game at First Bank & Trust Arena.

SDSU led 51-48 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and then started the quarter with a 12-2 run to go up 63-50 with just under six minutes to play. The Bluejays cut the lead to 69-62, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Madison Mathiowetz with two minutes to play put the game on ice.

It was the second game in a row that SDSU came through in the final quarter, as the Jacks came back from a 13-point deficit in the fourth on Monday against Rice to come away with a 65-63 victory.

SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said it’s been big for his team to come out on top in two close games to start the season because they’re still trying to totally figure things out.

“I thought both of our first two games, first with Rice and then this one with Creighton, were similar in the sense that we had to make a lot of plays late,” Johnston said. “Nothing came early for us and we had to be patient and continue to battle. … I think we are not a finished product in game number two. 

“We have a lot of returners and a lot of new faces. How do we put that together and find the right things to do, the right spots to be in [is still up in the air]. There’s still a lot that we’re figuring out, but in both games experience helped us. I thought we made a lot of good plays when we needed to both offensive and defensive.”

The Jacks opened the game with a 9-2 run. The Bluejays then closed the first quarter with an 11-3 run to give them a 13-12 lead heading into the second. 

The run extended into the beginning of the second quarter as Creighton led 20-14 with 6:46 to play in the half. SDSU then scored four-straight before Creighton went on a 6-0 run to go up 26-18. The Jacks would close the half with a 10-5 run and trailed 31-28 at the break.

It was then junior forward Brooklyn Meyer’s turn to go to work. She scored 11 of SDSU’s first 15 points in the second half and that gave the Jacks a 43-39 lead. SDSU extended the lead to 47-39 with a Haleigh Timmer lay up and a pair of free throws from Mesa Byom with 3:41 left in the third.

Brooklyn Meyer finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Byom had 11 points and nine rebounds. SDSU scored 38 points in the paint and held a 41-28 advantage in rebounds. Johnston said he thought his team could take advantage of their size and physicality on Friday night.

“I thought we were a little bit bigger and physical inside. Brooklyn just couldn’t find it in the first half. She was just a little bit rushed and wasn’t sure if she was going to get doubled or not. It was tough for her and then in the second half she got it going. Mesa has just been playing great for the last several months, making three’s and rebounding. She does a lot for us,” Johnston said.

SDSU shot 50% from the field and was 6-of-17 from three. Mathiowetz had 13 points and Paige Meyer had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Timmer finished with 12 points and half of those points came in the fourth quarter. She hit the game-winning three on Monday night and that was her first game in over a year as she missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Johnston said Timmer adds another scoring dynamic for his team that they didn’t have last season.

“[Timmer] adds a playmaker on the perimeter for us. She can make shots, but she also can put it on the floor. She has a pull-up jumper and can get to the basket. She can make free throws. She just adds another scoring dimension for us and that can take some pressure off of Brooklyn and Paige to always create,” Johnston said.

The Bluejays shot 44% from the field and were 8-of-25 from beyond the arc. Creighton was led by Lauren Jensen who had 23 points. Molly Mogensen had 13 points and nine rebounds. Kiani Lockett had 12 points and Morgan Maly had 11 points.

It was Johnston’s 600th victory on Thursday night. That puts him just outside the top-100 in wins in NCAA history. 

This was the 18th time in program history that the Jackrabbits beat a ranked team. Things won’t get any easier for SDSU next week as Wisconsin comes to town on Wednesday and No. 11 ranked Duke will be in Brookings next Sunday. The Jacks will travel to Hawaii after that and take on Oregon and Georgia Tech in the Hawaii North Shore Showcase.

Johnston said he was happy with the ranked victory but there’s no time for his team to celebrate.

“This was a good win. Creighton is a ranked team and it’s a good win for us. Early in the year we’ve had two really good wins and now we have a tough stretch with Wisconsin, Duke, Georgia Tech and Oregon, so we have to move on quickly,” Johnston said.