South Dakota State women's basketball hits program-best 17 3's in 118-59 win over South Dakota

The 3-pointers were falling so fast, so frequently, that South Dakota State players needed a word to describe it.

"What did we call it?" South Dakota State forward Paiton Burckhard asked guard Haleigh Timmer at the podium after a dominant 118-59 win over rival South Dakota.

"Splash," Timmer responded.

"Yeah, 'Splash,'" Burckhard said with a grin. "We're 'splashing.'"

The Jackrabbits hit a program record 17 3-pointers in the game and were one point off its single-game scoring record of 119 in its best scoring performance of the year by 13 points. 59 points is South Dakota's fifth-worst scoring performance of the year, making complete dominance on both sides of the ball for SDSU in a season where the conferences Gold Standards might have historic separation between them. Despite struggles for USD (8-10, 4-3 Summit) and dominance for the Jackrabbits at the start of conference play, Burckhard noted there's a lot of "a lot of history there" that propelled SDSU to make a statement. After three-straight Summit League Tournament championships by the Coyotes, Burckhard said the Jackrabbits wanted to "move up on them."

"We haven't shot it great from the three point line this year, (but) recently, we've shot it really well — I think more to what our potential is," South Dakota State head coach Aaron Johnston said. "But you have some special games along the way, and today would be special in terms of how we made 3's, for sure."

The win keeps South Dakota State (13-5, 7-0 Summit) undefeated in conference play, but more importantly, solidifies the distance between them and their every-year Summit League Tournament competitor. The Jackrabbits narrowly escaped a game against Oral Roberts the first game of Summit League play, but after Saturday, that game can be looked at as an anomaly. The best team in the Summit League played like it, forcing a young USD group to play like one, too.

"I can't say enough how different stages these two programs are in," South Dakota head coach Kayla Karius said. "The experience and the veteran players that our opponents had today and then our youth and inexperience, I liked the fact that so many kids on our team got to experience that (rivalry) for the first time."

South Dakota was actually the first team to provide a punch. USD forward Alexi Hempe hit a 3-pointer, then after a few rough offensive possessions for the Jackrabbits, Larkins took a coast-to-coast chance all the way for an and-1 layup. But as soon as USD slid its feet on back-to-back possessions, getting called for travels which sent SDSU back with an extra possession, it started a troubling trend that South Dakota State took full advantage of.

Both teams played at the same speed. One was controlled. The other was not. "And then the foul trouble started," Karius said. South Dakota, without starting center Jeniah Ugofsky for the second time in the last three games due to injury, crashed for offensive rebounds that it had no chance of retrieving. More often than not, it led to a foul. Within five minutes of the game, South Dakota was already in the penalty and the Jackrabbits took frequent trips to the line. By the end of the game, SDSU had outshot the Coyotes at the line 26-16, making 17 of its attempts. Coyotes star guard Grace Larkins spent most of the game in foul trouble.

"(It's) the way we scout teams but also just the intensity we bring to practices leading up to games," Timmer said, "the intentionality in the first quarter to set the tone and really take control of the game."

Despite USD pushing the ball, the Jackrabbits seemingly never lost any of its defenders off the ball. South Dakota State point guard Paige Meyer, who has been improving after returning from an injury suffered last season, had a dominant 15-point, five-assist performance in under 20 minutes, combining with graduate Dru Gylten (12 points) to give "elite" point guard play on both offense and defense for the Jackrabbits. The Coyotes tried entry passes, swing passes, everything to get the ball moving and tipped passes were just about as common as completed ones. USD had 14 turnovers in the first half. SDSU had 20 points off those turnovers.

And, finally, SDSU's size came into play. The Jackrabbits dominated the glass, outrebounding USD 44-23 with 17 offensive rebounds. On one sequence, Burckhard finished a left-handed layup for an and-1. At the line, she missed the free throw, but the rebound was collected by Jackrabbits forward Myah Selland (19 points), who passed back to Burckhard for another layup.

"(Just) being relentless and not giving up until a whistle is blown or there's a basket made," Burckhard said, "and just keep on going and going. I think all of us were doing that."

SDSU swung the ball fast and penetrated hard, but when the ball found its way to the perimeter, it had seemingly all day to shoot. The lead was at 30 by the midway mark of the second quarter, when the chanting of a almost-exclusively SDSU crowd left the Coyotes unaware of the shot clock, picking up a violation without even throwing up a desperation attempt as the shot clock wound to zero. In the second half, the Jackrabbits didn't let up.

South Dakota fired too strong on 3-pointers and runners in the lane; South Dakota State missed the second of two free throws, getting offensive rebounds and turning a two-point play into a three-point one. USD turned the ball over, SDSU ran those turnovers back for easy transition buckets. The lead hit 51 with under a minute left in the third quarter. More players started to get involved. South Dakota State made substitutions and those players hit 3's, too.

The historic nature of the performance didn't cross the mind of Jackrabbits players or Johnston during the game, but it felt like something was on. The Jackrabbits hit 100 points with just over eight minutes left in the game and the very next possession, the ball swung up to Burckhard (22 points, eight rebounds) on the top of the key for yet another open 3-pointer. SDSU hadn't let up yet, so she fired.

"Splash."

She drained the 3-pointer and as the Coyotes called a timeout, she cracked a wide grin. The rivalry has produced some highly-competitive games over the years, but since the first quarter, those looks of disbelief crossed SDSU players' faces more often. SDSU checked in its bench with 7:29 left up 59 points in a game that was never close.

Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDSU women's basketball hits program-best 17 3's in 118-59 rivalry win