STORRS, Conn. — South Dakota State, Oklahoma State, Connecticut and Arkansas State each had practice and spoke with the media on Friday, ahead of Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game.

Here are some observations I took in during the day:

South Dakota State is playing well and is motivated

SDSU comes into Saturday’s contest having won 19-straight games. All of them came against the Summit League, but the Jackrabbits have seemed to find another gear over the past two months.

The Jacks have won the past 11 games by 15 points or more and have held their past eight opponents to under 70 points. SDSU has also scored over 70 points in its last six games.

SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said he thinks things switched for his team around mid-January and it started on the defensive end and carried into how they played offensively.

“Yeah, I'd say even probably that midway through January, we started to dig in and prioritize and just play better defensively. We were always pretty good, but I think it's fair to say defensively, it wasn't a major issue, but I think we kind of found a new gear defensively the last, probably, six weeks of the conference season. I think that carried over into February and then into March. It helped our offense, too. We were far more efficient offensively. I thought we got to better spots there,” Johnston said.

There’s always extra motivation for players come March because that means the end of the season is near. But for some, the end of the career is right around the corner. Saturday could be senior point guard Paige Meyer’s last game and she said Friday that she is taking every moment in as it might be the last time she’ll get to play with her teammates.

“It motivates me a lot, being our last year playing together with this group. I’m just kind of taking in every moment that I can, enjoying every moment with them and seeing how long we can keep it rolling,” Meyer said.

Oklahoma State knows what it's up against when playing South Dakota State

OSU head coach Jacie Hoyt is familiar with the Jackrabbits as she coached in the same conference as them for two seasons when she was at Kansas City.

She said when she saw SDSU was the Cowgirls’ first-round opponent she was not pleased.

“Absolutely, without a doubt, I think it's about the toughest draw we could have gotten for the 10 seed,” Hoyt said. “I have just so much respect for the program. They know how to win. They are very well-coached. They're incredibly fundamentally sound. I think it's probably safe to say that every kid on the team grew up watching the previous teams, and probably went to camps. They're like a bunch of well-trained robots out there. 

“They know how to play the game, and they know how to win. They've been to the tournament the last four out of five years, I believe. It wasn't that long ago they were in a Sweet 16. This is a team that we certainly are not overlooking by any means. I've got so much respect for them and for their coach. So certainly, we felt like this was a very, very tough draw for the first round.”

In Hoyt’s last season at Kansas City, SDSU point guard Paige Meyer was a freshman. Meyer started in 29 games that season before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Hoyt’s Roos in the final game of the regular season. Now in her senior season, Meyer is averaging 12 points and 5.3 assists per game.

Hoyt said she knew that Meyer had a bright future ahead of her when she was at Kansas City.

“As far as similarities, several of those players that were — that we played against when I was in Kansas City are still on the team,” Hoyt said. “They were freshmen and sophomores at that point in time. But yeah, I mean, same players, same system. They just continue to find ways to make it work and get better and better at it. 

“For example, I think Paige Meyer was a freshman when I was in Kansas City. I knew she was going to be special back then. It's just so impressive the way they keep those kids there, the way that they all seem to just be bought into South Dakota State women's basketball.”

Geno Auriemma knows how to command a news conference

Auriemma was asked 13 questions on Friday morning and he answered each of them with a long and genuine answer.

The questions ranged from parity in women’s college basketball, learning about new opponents and having the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament at the highest seeds home arena.

Auriemma said there’s more parity in women’s college basketball than there was a decade ago and it’s not just with who all can win a national championship.

“In reality, obviously, there will never be 20 teams that have a chance to win a national championship,” Auriemma said. “That's probably unrealistic. But from the years when there were three or four to now when there may be, I don't know, eight or nine — I don't know how many there are today, but certainly more than a few years ago.

“I think all that's great, but even more than that, even if there aren't way more teams that have an opportunity to win a National Championship, I think where parity begins is, that there's much greater chances of an upset in the first two or three rounds than there ever was before. That is where the fun is in the NCAA Tournament.”

Auriemma has coached at home many times in the NCAA Tournament. He’s never lost at home in the Big Dance, so you would think that he enjoys playing in Storrs in March, but that’s not the case.

“Contrary to public opinion, I don't necessarily like playing at home in the NCAA Tournament,” Auriemma said. “I really don't. Never liked playing at home in the NCAA Tournament. I don't like it. I don't like playing at home in the Big East Tournament because the perception out there is, well, you're at home so let's let the officials screw you here and there. 

“Not that anybody thinks like that, not that they actually do that. That's just me being paranoid. But I think there's a lot of things that go into playing at home that you wouldn't have to deal with, both outside stuff, players, what they have to go through when they're home and blah, blah, blah.”

UConn is a No. 2 seed and will be playing No. 15 seeded Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon. Auriemma said he didn’t know much of anything about the Red Wolves when they were announced as the Huskies' first-round opponent. He said that is one of the issues with being the head coach of one of the programs that is the cream of the crop in women’s college basketball.

“You know, one of the downsides, I guess you would say, still, maybe in the women's game — not as much as it used to be, but when you're a certain level in Division I, you tend to be like in a silo, and you're so tunnel visioned,” Auriemma said. “You're so into what you're doing and who are we playing and what's next for us that you don't really notice what's going on around the country until NCAA Tournament time. 

“… But these things, that's what's great about the NCAA Tournament, you find out these things once you see the bracket. For me, it's kind of exciting to look and go, yeah, there's a lot of coaches doing a lot of great things that you just don't know about until now,” Auriemma said.