The upcoming stretch of the season for the Jackrabbit women will be intriguing. With a 1.5 game lead in the standings, they are poised to go against the teams in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place behind them in the standings. It will be either give them a stranglehold on the conference or make the final few weeks of the season very interesting.
Guided by the strong performances of Paige and Brooklyn Meyer, the Jackrabbit women have been cruising with confidence in conference play. Brooklyn is leading the team in points, rebounding, and blocks. She has taken a major step forward in her sophomore campaign and has filled the shoes of Kallie Theisen who’s out for the year with the injury. Brooklyn is going to be in the running for player of the year come postseason awards. Her and Paige are first team summit league players this season but have gotten a lot of help from their supporting teammates .
Madison Mathiowetz has also had a huge sophomore campaign and filled in some major shoes for the team. Averaging nearly 11 points a game she is on the team in scoring and has logged some big minutes. Another standout is Mesa Byom, who has become a rim protector for the Jacks. She is averaging nearly 7 points per game and has been a boost off the bench in support of Brooklyn in a very limited front court for the women.
One other thing that isn’t given enough credit is the coaching job that Aaron Johnston has done this season. In a season marked by the graduation and injuries of all four summit league players, the women are playing strong basketball. Last season when he was getting 11-12 players in the game with quality minutes we have seen that pay off this season. Despite the challenges, the Jacks are set to keep their foot on the petal and hopefully continue their dominant stranglehold on the summit league crown.
With the trip to Sioux Falls just over a month away, the women are hitting their stride. We have seen the Meyer and Meyer connection dominate while allowing other players to really shine in their own moments. The team’s objective is clear – the Jackrabbit women need to come away with a minimal 2-1 record to show their is still a major gap between them and everyone in the summit.