The Jackrabbits and Coyotes met on the hardwood on Saturday afternoon in a pair of rivalry games with some serious seeding implications.

On the Women's side, it was the battle for the 2-seed in next week's Summit League Tournament.

For the Men, the Jackrabbits were aiming to avoid the sweep, and also looking to improve their seeding chances with a victory over the Yotes.

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The Men's game began at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon in Vermillion ahead of the 6:00 start for the Women's game in Brookings.

Per GoYotes.com:

VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball picked up a 75-70 win over South Dakota State in a Senior Day Interstate Series matchup, presented by First Interstate Bank behind five Coyotes in double-figure scoring. USD completed the regular season sweep over the Jackrabbits, marking the first sweep of the Jacks since the 1996-97 season.  
 
South Dakota State had the hot hand early, but the Yotes would erase a 17-point first half deficit to trail by just four, 42-38, at halftime. In his second straight start, Ethan Kizer paced USD in the opening 20 minutes with 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting from deep, including a four-point play. South Dakota began to flip the momentum with four minutes to go in the first half following Kizer's four-point play, outscoring the Jacks 17-6 heading into the break.

The late surge in the first half brought the Yotes' first half shooting percentage up to 41.4% but the Jacks offense was in a groove from the jump with a 52.3%. SDSU connected on two more 3-pointers in the opening half, but the Yotes made up the difference by going 11-for-14 from the free throw line to SDSU's 5-of-7.
 
Foul trouble limited Fens in the first half to just nine minutes, but he quickly made up for that with seven points in the first five minutes as the Yotes pulled ahead 45-42. The Jacks regained the lead a couple possessions later, but a triple from Jordan Crawford out of a media timeout put the Yotes in front for good. Crawford would score nine of the next 11 USD points, as the Yotes grabbed their largest lead of the day 62-55 with eight minutes remaining.
 
Fens came up big on the defensive end in the final minute with two key blocks. The Coyotes iced the game at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 over the final 1:33, and 14-for-17 in the second half to complete the regular season sweep with a 75-70 Senior Day win over SDSU.
 
The Coyote starting five scored 70 of 75 points with Crawford and Fens leading the way with 17 each. The duo scored 27 of their 34 points in the second half. Buntyn added 15 points, while Vince Buzelis had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.
 
The Coyotes turn their attention to next week's Summit League Tournament.

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On the Women's side, the Jackrabbits earned another statement victory as they enter the Summit League Tournament white-hot. Per GoJacks.com:

BROOKINGS, S.D. - The South Dakota State women's basketball team rolled past South Dakota, 82-49, Saturday evening in the Jackrabbits' Senior Night contest at First Bank & Trust Arena.

The Jackrabbits scored the first seven points of the game and led 27-8 by the end of the opening period. An 18-point SDSU run that included eight straight Brooklyn Meyer points all but put the game out of reach for USD within the first 10 minutes.

Meyer closed out her home career with 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds and a pair of assists. It was her highest scoring game ever on home court and the seventh 30-point game of her career.

Emilee Fox added 12 points with four 3-pointers, including a half-court bucket at the halftime buzzer that put the Jacks up 19, 51-32. Fox also tallied five rebounds and four assists. Hadley Thul and Brooklynn Felchle added 10 points apiece and Mahli Abdouch connected on all three of her shot attempts for eight points.

Thul led the Jackrabbits with a career-high seven assists and three steals. Hilary Behrens grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

SDSU shot better than 50% for the sixth time in the last seven games and 14th time this year. The Jacks registered 20 assists on 32 made field goals and out-rebounded the Coyotes 43-29.

USD was held to its season low scoring output and third lowest field goal percentage of the year (.316). The Coyotes put up single-digit scoring in three of four quarters. Molly Joyce scored 21 points to lead USD.

South Dakota State wraps up the regular season with a 24-6 overall record and 14-2 mark in the Summit League. The Jackrabbits went 8-0 during the second lap of the conference season.

South Dakota is now 22-9 on the year and 12-4 in conference action.

South Dakota State will be the No. 2 seed at the Summit League Tournament, which starts next week in Sioux Falls. The Jackrabbits will take on the No. 7 Kansas City at noon on Thursday, March 7 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. 

Sources: GoYotes.com and GoJacks.com

The Last Ten Winners of the Summit League Women's Basketball Tournament

Gallery Credit: Bert Remien

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