The 2020 season ended in disappointment for the South Dakota State Women’s Basketball team with many ups and downs throughout the season. Heading into the non conference season there are few unknown heading into the season for this team.
Returners
The only major question mark is the health of Myah Selland. Coach Johnson said he expects her to have a “full fall” leading many to believe there is a chance we see her play a lot before the conference schedule starts. He did say there isn’t a timeline for her so it will be something worth watching to see when she will return to the court. For the most part the team is fully back from last season. Paiton Burckhard and Tylee Irwin alongside Selland made it on the preseason first team. So expectations will be high for the returning players. Last season we saw ten girls get decent minutes in games, it will be worth watching what the rotation will look like with the schedule going back to normal, and no longer back to back games come conference season.
New players
The Jackrabbits are bringing in two talented freshmen this season; Paige Meyer and Haleigh Timmer. Their roles are going to be interesting to watch. Both are very decorated coming out of highschool Haliegh was a top 40 guard in her class by some rankings. Paige was a high scorer in highschool reaching the 1000 point mark her sophomore season. AJ has shown in the past he isn’t afraid to give freshman major minutes if they deserve/earned them. It will be a major boost to the lineup if both can contribute this season!
Expectations
As per usual the women will have some lofty expectations this season. Coming off an undefeated conference record but a first round elimination in both the summit league tournament and the NCAA tournament the Jacks are going to look to make another big run this season.
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