STORRS, Conn. — South Dakota State will play in one of the historic venues of college basketball on Saturday when the Jackrabbits play Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, the home of the Connecticut Huskies. The reason Gampel is historic isn’t because of how old it is, but because of the winning tradition of UConn and the players that have played there.

The building opened in 1990 and the Huskies have a record of 380-22 in the Pavilion. This will be the 36th NCAA Tournament appearance for UConn and the Huskies have played games in the state of Connecticut in all but two of them, and those two years the first and second round were played at a neutral site.

The Huskies have made 23 Final Four’s and have won 11 National Championships. UConn head coach Geno Auriemma is the all-time leader in wins in all of college basketball, women and men, with 1,245 career victories. 

The Huskies have had 11 National Player of the Year Award winners. That list includes Rebecca Lobo, Diana Turasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Brianna Stewart and current UConn player Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers will be playing her final games at Gampel this weekend and on Friday she explained why the place is special to her.

“It's been an amazing time here at Gampel. I think it's the best environment in the world. Obviously, the support makes Gampel what it is. Everybody who comes in 60 minutes before the games start, and they're just there supporting us. And obviously, their intensity during the games, their support during the games, it means everything to us as players. It's been really fun to play here,” Bueckers said.

This will be the first time that both South Dakota State and Oklahoma State will play in Storrs. Both coaches and players from each team talked about how excited they were to play in a place that has such a rich history in women’s basketball.

SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston, who's in his 25th season at South Dakota State, has been to a lot of venues around the country. He said he’s most excited to see what the environment is like and be at a place that is historic in women’s basketball.

“It’s fun to come to Connecticut, a place you know a lot about from their history and their storied program, so it will be fun to compete in their arena. Obviously, a fan base that really knows women's basketball. Hopefully they're passionate about both games tomorrow and really just provide the environment that I think we want for all these young women that are out there playing,” Johnston said.

Jacie Hoyt is in her third season at Oklahoma State and her eighth season as a head coach. She’s 37 years old and said growing up she watched the likes of Lobo, Turasi and Bird. 

“Well, for me, I mean, I grew up on UConn, right? I think we're in the mecca of college women's basketball here. This is the type of place that dreams are made of. To get to be playing here in March, it's something we're really excited about. … To get to just be here and get to play on that floor where some of the greatest to ever play the game have played, it's really special, and we're going to soak it up and just enjoy such a unique experience,” Hoyt said.

South Dakota State players grew up on Maya Moore. She played for the Minnesota Lynx from 2011-18 and led them to four WNBA titles. Every player on South Dakota State is from either South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa or Wisconsin. With that in mind, the Lynx were a lot of the SDSU players’ favorite WNBA team growing up.

UConn and Arkansas State will play the first game on Saturday. SDSU junior guard Haleigh Timmer said she thinks the crowd should stick around after the Huskies’ game and it will be fun to play at Gampel.

“UConn is obviously a really cool and historic place for women's basketball and their fans come and pack the arena. I think it'll be a cool atmosphere, just fans overflowing from their game before ours, so it'll be cool to play in this arena and this environment,” Timmer said.

No. 2 seeded UConn and No. 15 seeded Arkansas State will tip things off on Saturday at noon CDT. No. 10 seeded South Dakota State and No. 7 seeded Oklahoma State will follow and approximately start at 2:30 p.m. The winners will meet up on Monday in the second round.