The South Dakota Board of Regents recently approved an increase in student activity fees for the expanding SDSU Equestrian team. SDSU hopes to boost numbers of the team from its current 26 members to 60 members at a cost of nearly $14,000 for each rider. With the help of the SDSU Foundation, SDSU plans on building a $3.2 million dollar facility for these future athletes.

Meanwhile, South Dakota State University is falling apart. Cars and trucks are falling into potholes on campus roads daily, never to be seen again. After every rain, professors holding class in basement meeting rooms in the NFA are required to have one life-vest for every student in class. And thermostats in Wenona Hall have difficulty distinguishing a warm day in South Dakota from zero Kelvin.

When it comes to the Athletic Department, the situation proves no better at SDSU. While Division-I athletes are hogging all the facilities at the HPER on a regular basis, lesser athletes (normal people) are left with the Barn. The Barn was a top-notch facility when it was first built in 1918. In fact, it was once the largest facility of its kind in the state. Now, it is just the dustiest, void from custodial measures for the last 88 years. Among its other problems: non-circular basketball hoops, less-than-solid floors, courts often littered with track and field and soccer equipment and a weight room filled with gym equipment best described as “leftovers.”

Luckily, SDSU students are not all that picky. We can deal with subpar facilities without much fuss. A two-inch height difference from one side of a hoop to the other? We just shoot from the kinder side of the court. A high-jump cushion blocking

one corner of the court? We use it to our advantage as an added defender.

But it is tough to make good of these dire situations when the opportunity does not present itself. The Barn, too, is now booked on a regular basis by the basketball teams, track and field team, baseball team, soccer team, dance team and random high-school camps. This overbooking of the Barn leaves almost no time to the average student for recreation.

By no means is the absence of time in either gymnasium the fault of any athletic program. SDSU athletes require facilities to practice and to gel as teammates. But before State goes and sinks millions of dollars into yet another facility and sport that will benefit only those who participate in that sport directly, we should pay attention to other aspects of our university that call for attention. Let us not forget about the average student. We are the heart, soul and guts of SDSU.

Every good thing comes to an end. Then again, maybe it doesn’t have to.

After a season for the Lady Jackrabbits that started off less than fantastic at 10-8, the Jacks have finished their last leg of the season strong, winning eight straight-five of which were on the road. By improving their record to 18-8 with two games to go in the season, the Jacks have situated themselves to stand a chance at making the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, and extending their season. For the Jacks to even be considered an invitee of the WNIT, said Johnston, they will need to win the last two games of the season.

First, the Jacks must take on University of California Riverside Tuesday on the road. The Highlanders are also hot lately, though, tallying four wins in a row to improve to 11-14 on the season.

In the final scheduled game of the season, and the last home game of the spring semester, the Jacks will take on Central State University (Ohio). If State can finish the season with a ten-game winning streak, the Jacks would finish the season 20-8, and conceivably stand a chance at prolonging their season by taking their winning tear to the WNIT. But they will have to win Friday against what Coach Aaron Johnston calls a quick, athletic, penetrating perimeter team.

Overshadowing the significance of the last home basketball game of the season for the Lady Jackrabbits is the reality that the showing will be the final game at Frost Arena for three SDSU seniors. The bout this Friday will mark the end of the collegiate careers of seniors Heather Sieler, Sara Smith and Christina Gilbert.

“They’ve been a part of big wins and key memories,” said Johnston. “Three special players.”

The seniors will be honored before Friday’s game.

“We hope it’s a good atmosphere at Frost,” said Johnston.

Students and fans are urged to wear yellow and be cowbell-equipped for the season finale Friday. The entire remaining gojacks.com T-shirts will be dispersed at the game to enthusiastic fans. Daktronics will auction off a television set to one of this season’s many “Fans of the Game,” and the Junior Jacks Club will put on the “Dash for Cash,” in which balloons full of cash can be popped. To participate in any event, fans must wear yellow.

Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.

From ever-changing locations in the HPER building to the basement of the Barn, the SDSU boxing team has idled as a university club for longer than team members can remember. But it remains an all-but-forgotten sport at SDSU.

With no funding from the university (contrasting the support many Jackrabbit Club teams receive), the boxing club has not only lingered as a student organization, but has developed a core of dedicated athletes.

SDSU Boxing Club President Robert Olson said that during the five years he has been a participant in the student group, turnout numbers have always fluctuated.

“We pushed last year’s fall semester for interested boxers,” said Olson, a math major from Rochester, Minn., “but we had 30 to 40 people coming. It was a little too crowded.”

Olson said the club’s numbers have fallen some, but attendees are highly interested in the sport and are interested in training hard.

“Now we have between five and ten people coming just about every night,” he said.

At any given practice, the boxing team’s agenda usually includes heavy-bag hitting, jumping rope, technique training with focus-mitts and some sparring to wrap up the workouts. However, Olson said, the workouts are no stroll in the park.

“It’s the hardest sport I’ve ever done,” he said.

Junior Brandon Rausch, a jujitsu competitor for 13 years, took up boxing five years ago to become better at punching. He now divides his workout time between jujitsu and boxing.

“It’s kind of an addiction,” said Rausch, a psychology major. “Once you start you don’t want to stop.”

While many of the boxing club’s members have been participating for multiple years, anyone, regardless of skill, can join if he or she is interested.

“It’s fun to watch. In one night, someone can get ten times better at throwing a punch,” said Olson. “If you want to get really serious about it, it’ll take a few weeks to really get into.”

Senior dairy management major Donovan Halajian is an example. Not knowing the sport, but eager to learn, Halajian joined the club four years ago.

“When I came down, I knew nothing about it,” he said. Now, Halajian actively takes part in the club as the current SDSU Boxing Club vice president.

As far as legitimate, in-ring fights, the SDSU boxing club travels to private exhibition locations like Sioux Falls, Grand Forks and different Minnesota locations for competition. Lately, the club has not posted many participants. But expect the club to field multiple participants for their favorite annual bout hosted by the University of South Dakota fraternities in Vermillion in April.

“It’s a real USA Boxing event. I’d say it’s 60 percent frat guys beating the hell out of each other,” said Olson, who is undefeated at the USD fight night. “”Everybody thinks that getting punched hurts so bad-we care more about losing a point.”

Not every SDSU boxing member takes part in matches. A lot of people just come and work out, said Olson. “You can hang out, work out, train and never spar if you don’t want to. That’s perfectly fine.”

“It’s a great cardiovascular workout,” said Halajian. Since joining the club, he has noticed that the training exercises have made him “more fit all around.”

Unlike team sports and many other sporting activities, the boxers at State attribute much of the fondness of their craft to the simplicity and self-sufficient nature of the sport.

“It’s different than other sports-it’s completely individual,” said Olson. He added that the club requires very little to operate.

“People think ‘We have to practice in the shitty Barn basement.’ The nice thing about boxing is you don’t need much equipment.”

Three pioneers in the world of women’s sports with career ties to SDSU held a panel discussion at the celebration of the 20th Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day at SDSU Feb. 2. Roosevelt High School Athletic Director Lolly Forseth, former SDSU women’s basketball coach Nancy Neiber and the South Dakota High School Activities Association assistant executive director Ruth Rehn – all former state Pathfinder award winners -expounded on the development of women’s opportunities in athletics while reminiscing on their own lives.

“Girls have in their minds that the activities have always been there,” said Rehn, but they are unaware of the struggles overcome in pursuit of equality.

At her first coaching job, Rehn said, all the girls’ teams shared the same uniforms for every sport. She was told that if there was any money left over from purchasing hockey sticks she could use it for new girls’ uniforms.

“I was hoping their sticks didn’t break.”

After leaving the Minnesota school district that placed far too much emphasis on boys’ hockey sticks, Rehn was hired by the South Dakota High School Activities Association in 1974.

Nancy Neiber described her enthusiasm for playing sports as a youngster, mostly by opportunities with neighborhood boys. “I didn’t care if it was ten degrees below zero, we’d pump up that ball and play basketball.”

Neiber said she could compete with all the boys of her age, attributing a good baseball throwing arm to countless hours spent playing catch with her dad. But at a baseball camp where her hat fell off revealing that she was in fact a girl, she was asked to go home because the camp was meant for boys alone.

“That was the first time I realized that little girls didn’t have the same opportunity as boys.”

Neiber was hired as a physical education teacher at Mitchell High School, where she was offered the women’s basketball head coaching position. She did not know the game of basketball, but was determined to learn. Neiber attended boys’ basketball practice all season in an attempt to learn the sport. Fifteen years later she became head women’s basketball coach at SDSU.

Forseth attributes the start of her career to SDSU’s atypical arrangement for her to student teach in Rapid City, where South Dakota’s finest gymnastic squad operated. Gymnastics was the only girls sport offered to high school students at the time of Forseth’s graduation, and she was hired by Lincoln High in Sioux Falls immediately. In 1995 she became athletic director.

“I think I was the first woman athletic director in the state at the time,” said Forseth, “I just wanted to make any and all programs as equitable as possible.”

The women described their childhood experiences as one with preconceived notions of the role of each sex. Offered to boys was physical education; girls were offered home economics. Girls could, however, participate in “play days” three times a year where certain athletics were presented.

In one way or another, each Pathfinder award winner was drawn to SDSU by State’s transition toward a more women-friendly sports atmosphere. Both Forseth and Rehn graduated from SDSU.

“South Dakota State was one of the more proactive schools in the region,” said Neiber.

In 1975, Title IX was implemented. Title IX was a federal law requiring equal opportunities for boys and girls in sports. After it was implemented, 50 percent of women’s basketball coaches were female.

“In three years (that number) dropped down to nine percent,” Rehn said.

Neiber described many women coaches as unprepared and unknowledgeable to coach some sports when women were first given the opportunity to play.

Fourth-year student Alicia Brown attended the panel discussion to find that women’s sports have come a long way.

“I never really thought about how women have fought to have the same participation rights as boys,” said Brown, a Journalism news editorial major. “It kind of reminded me of ‘A League of Their Own.’”

Today, due to Title IX and the dedication of people like Forseth, Neiber, and Rehn, girls share almost all of the same opportunities in sports as boys. Currently ten women’s varsity sports are offered at SDSU.

Fighting the holiday weight fluctuation that often accompanies the turkeys and pies, the SDSU Wellness Center is introducing a variety of fitness programs for students and faculty to get in shape.

Aside from the featured programs, the HPER also offers fitness evaluations, personal programming and group training programs, ranging from pilates to spinning and kickboxing.

“We have land aerobics, water aerobics and a spinning class,” said Interim Wellness Coordinator Amanda Gerlach.

Yoga, pilates, kickboxing, step aerobics and ball pilates are all offered at the Wellness Center to students and faculty with Cardio Cards. Cardio Cards can be purchased in the Wellness Office or at the service desk at the HPER for $20 a month or $70 a semester. This allows cardholders to partake in the many fitness classes offered at the HPER.

Spinning-the most popular class at the Wellness Center-incorporates concentrated bursts of exertion in intervals, and is what Gerlach said is the most challenging workout offered by the HPER.

“Intense,” said senior Katie Larson, summing up the spinning class in one word. An avid spinning class participant, Larson attends three times a week.

“I go because they push you to work really hard,” said Larson, a consumer affairs major. “They play music that gets you really going, too.”

Although it can be a hellacious workout, anyone can join, said Larson.

“You go as hard as you want to ? they have newcomers coming all the time.”

Gerlach said students “have the opportunity to set up personal programming.”

She said that every student is entitled to two free personal-programming sessions each year.

“We sit down and talk about what their exercise routine is like at the time and decide what they want to work on, when they can go through it, and meet again next semester to see progress,” said Gerlach.

Students can also set up appointments for free personal fitness evaluations in which both their body fat and cardiovascular health are tested.

“We’ve had quite a few [test takers],” said the interim wellness coordinator. “But not a lot of students are aware of it.”

For $5, students and faculty can sign up for the “Fight the Fat” program, which monitors fitness levels between Nov. 14 and Jan. 16.

“It’s a 10-week motivational program to lose weight over the holidays,” said Gerlach.

She said participants of the two-month program take pre- and post-training measurements and are offered educational classes to discuss healthy nutrition and the Tri-Fit program. They also receive weekly e-mails regarding exercise and nutrition tips, and recipes. Throughout the “Fight the Fat” course, cardio workouts like spinning, yoga and aerobics will be offered once every two weeks free of charge.

More than 30 people have already signed up for “Fight the Fat.” Students and faculty can sign up individually, or as teams. Prizes will be awarded based on percentage of body weight lost and inches lost.

For information regarding any of the programs, testing or class schedules at the Wellness Center, students and faculty can either call Gerlach at 688-5386, or stop into Wellness Center HPER room 119 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Entering its second season at the Division-I level, the SDSU women’s basketball program progresses to a complete D-I schedule. The schedule enables the Jacks a shot at the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

With a roster infiltrated by new faces, the Jacks can battle inexperience with a few former national champions.

“Last year we had a combination of about half D-I and half D-II [games],” said SDSU’s Head Women’s Basketball Coach Aaron Johnston.

This year the team will see Division-I competition in all but two exhibition games with Minnesota-Crookston Nov. 4 and Upper Iowa Nov. 11. Both games will take place at Frost Arena.

Finishing with a 21-7 record last year, the Jacks went 8-7 against D-I teams. They posted key wins against the University of Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Alabama and Middle Tennessee, who finished the season with an NCAA tournament berth, but fell on the road to Purdue and University of Southern California. Both Purdue and USC earned high seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Johnston believes there is value even in a loss.

“When you can go on the road and play tough to the finish, you improve even in a loss,” he said.

Division-II national champions in 2003, the Jacks went out on top, departing from the North Central Conference and the Division-II level one year after their championship run. Leaving a conference which State dominated in its last years, players noticed in their first D-I season a marked difference in the level of play between the two collegiate stages.

“Division-I schools have really good athletes,” said senior point guard Heather Sieler.

A three-time letter winner, Sieler is a returner from the championship game three years ago.

“The level of competition in D-I is a lot higher,” she said. “You’re not able to blowout teams anymore … Every game is close.”

Sieler, along with center Christina Gilbert, are the only remaining players from the championship team of 2002-2003. They represent two of only three seniors on the 2005 roster. Guard Sara Smith completes the trio.

“It does put a lot more pressure on us,” said Sieler of the seniors’ experience. “We have a big responsibility to lead the team because [the team's] so young.”

Seven new players join the Jackrabbit squad this season: transfer students Sara Smith, a senior guard from Tamarack, Minn., and Lindsey Wasland, a junior forward from Wallace; and five incoming freshmen decorated with numerous high-school honors and awards.

“[They're] all really talented players,” said Johnston, SDSU’s second-most victorious coach. He said his team is the “quickest and most athletic team we’ve ever had.”

Johnston said his team can be a great three-point shooting team with the players’ experience on the perimeter. The inside lacks experience, however.

“[There is a] great deal of talent at the post position,” Johnston said. “But not a lot of college experience.”

Working with inexperience is not new to the 2003 Molten/Women’s Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year. Under Johnston’s direction in the 2001-2002 season, the Jacks claimed their first-ever Division II Elite-Eight appearance with only two seniors and nine freshmen.

The young team will try to repeat last year’s home record of 12-1 in Frost Arena. However, away games, will be key, Johnston said.

“What’s made us a successful team is our ability to go on the road and win in other teams’ arenas,” he said.

On the road, the Jacks will encounter, among others: Nebraska, Marquette, Colorado and Wisconsin.

Gilbert said there is an excitement level that goes along with playing big-name schools.

“Last year we played at Purdue; we see the Big Ten Conference on TV all the time,” she said, adding that they do not play timid. “We do a good job of keeping things together.”

In her last season with the Jacks, Gilbert looks for State to compete and do well against any team they meet.

This year marks State’s first eligible season for the WNIT tournament.

“We’re really excited about playing for the WNIT,” said Sieler. “It adds to the intensity.”

Although the Lady Jacks are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, Gilbert predicts climbing to the top of the D-I ranks in the future.

“Look for SDSU as National Champions as soon as we’re eligible.”

State becomes eligible for the “Big Dance” during the 2008-2009 season.

The Jacks kick off their D-I season at the University of Nebraska on Nov. 19.

The SDSU wrestling team enters the season in uncharted waters as a member of no conference-yet.

In his twelfth season at State, Head Coach Jason Liles said a coaches’ agreement exists between SDSU, University of Wyoming, North Dakota State University, Air Force, University of Northern Colorado, Utah Valley State, Northern Iowa, Fresno State and Eastern Illinois. The schools will recognize a conference dual meet champion, wrestler of the week and of the year, coach of the year and other awards among the participating schools.

“It has to progress to presidential approval to be formalized (as a conference),” said Liles. He hopes this occurs this year. Establishing a conference, he said, will facilitate recruiting.

The Jacks face tough, new competition in the likes of Air Force, Wyoming and Northern Iowa – teams that consistently finish in the top 15 in the nation. Despite the presence of well-established programs on the Jacks’ schedule, Liles’ expectations remain high.

“Expectations would be to be competitive, have a winning record overall and within conference … Our numbers are still down a little bit; we’re improving those,” he said.

The Jacks welcome 10 new freshman faces to the team. Three are expected to wrestle immediately, including 125-pound Alan Marvin from Adrian, Mich.; 157-pound Justin Retallic from Atlantic, Iowa; and 157-pound Matt Mower from Ipswich.

Liles said he hopes to red-shirt many of the remaining freshmen, utilizing them only when injury necessitates it. He said it is nice to have upperclassmen around to guide the newcomers during the season.

“It’s always great to have kids around with some experience,” he said.

Among the returners is seasoned-veteran senior Cody Nehl from Watauga. Nehl, a 197-pounder majoring in agricultural systems technology, hopes to be a positive example for his young team.

“We have some real good kids, but a young team,” Nehl said. “We’ll get better for the future.”

The Jacks kick their season off with their annual Blue and Yellow Meet at Frost Arena Oct. 29. An inner-squad competition, the Blue and Yellow Meet will determine starting positions in some weight categories.

“Only a few weights will have challenges … we’ll also have the young guys challenge to see where the younger and older guys are at,” Liles said.

It will be treated like any other meet, he said. “We take it seriously.”

One weight class that needs little determining is that held by junior Nathan Althoff. The two-time letter winner from Watertown boasted a record of 25-6 last year, and the Jacks will look to him for the same this year.

In his 11-year tenure at State, Liles has led the Jacks to nine top-five finishes, elevating the State wrestling program to perhaps the most successful and accredited sports program at SDSU. However, the same accomplishments may not come immediately in State’s newfound Division-I status.

“It’s a different level of competition, obviously,” Liles said. “We expect over time to have a program in the top 20.”

State’s first competition comes on Nov. 5 at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open at Frost Arena..

If many more games play out in the upcoming years like the men’s intramural flag football championship did on Thursday night, another Daktronics scoreboard will be needed.

In a game decided by the refs after regulation due to score uncertainties, the sideline was riddled with enthusiastic fans eager to discover how the game would unfold.

In the end, the Tig Ol’ Bitties sang their redemption song as they defeated the Raisons – a team which had ended the Bitties’ prior two seasons -by the score 34-33. Leading the intramural champs was Junior Eric DeWaard. A speedy, mobile quarterback, DeWaard passed for three touchdowns and ran in two. A tall receiving core with exceptional hands assisted DeWaard in the Bitties’ slim victory.

On the other side of the ball, the Raisons were led by graduate student Chris Stoebner. A pocket quarterback with a great offensive line, athletic receivers, and a cannon arm, Stoebner helped his team fight back from a nine point deficit at halftime.

To start the game off, Tig Ol’ Bitties and the Raisons twice swapped touchdowns, all on long receptions. The Raisons missed extra point conversions after each TD, and the score idled at 14-12.

Tig Ol’ Bitties scored once more before the half’s end on a 15 yard quarterback keeper up the gut, making the halftime score 21-12.

It was clear that the Raisons were dissatisfied with their first half performance. Inspirational leader and scheme orchestrator, senior Mitchell Fargen spoke strategy to his team during the break.

“I want safeties up more, don’t get beat; man up on odd side; safety cheat over and spy QB,” said Fargen at halftime.

Starting with bad field position after a botched kickoff reception, the Raisions were then sacked on back-to-back plays. The sacks resulted from blanketing coverage. Stoebner responded by completing six passes in a row to drive his team down the field to a touchdown. The two-point conversion was waved off when Stoebner was flagged for crossing the line of scrimmage on the completed pass.

After what looked like a pivotal momentum-changing drive, the Raisons would give up a 30-yard touchdown reception on a two-play drive.

“[Raisons] look a little deflated after that last TD,” said senior Tyler Steuk, a public recreation major. Steuk was cheering for the Raisons.

With three minutes on the clock, the Raisons would find the endzone again, with two deep-yardage passes and a heads-up shovel pass for the touchdown. Trailing 28-24, the Raisons converted the extra point to be down by three.

However, somewhere in the midst of all the completions, the boisterous crowd and the cussing participants, the score was lost. Suddenly, the score was unanimously accepted by referees and players. The Raisons trailed by only two, 28-26.

On the subsequent drive, Tig Ol’ Bitties QB DeWaard once again quickly descended on the Raisons’ endzone, running 45 yards for the score. The Tig Ol’ Bitties missed their first extra point attempt; leaving the door open to the Raisons, who trailed 34-26.

As the Raisons took over, DeWaard took to the sideline quite pumped, “I can feel it,” he said.

The Raisons completed play after play. When a pass fell incomplete, a player stepped out of bounds or a penalty occured, Fargen was sure to let the referees know when the clock should stop.

With 39 seconds on the clock, Stoebner completed a toychdown pass down the middle of the field, followed by a completed two-point conversion. The conversion tied the game: 34-34, and sent the crowd abuzz with jubilation.

After the kickoff, Tig Ol’ Bitties seemed to accept the tie score. They attempted two hail marys in an attempt to win instead of kneeling on the ball.

But before the game was to go into overtime, the referees convened for a time and ended the game: Tig Ol’ Bitties 34, Raisons 33.

“It was just fun,” said Stoebner despite the unusual ending. “It gets competitive; we get rough, but at the end of the night, we all go to the same school.”

Reacting to the win, DeWaard attributes the victory to team cohesiveness.

“We’ve been together a couple years now,” said DeWaard, “so we know where we’re gonna be on the field.”

The women’s intramural flag-football championship game played out Thursday, featuring two of the best State has to offer: Psych Ward and the Puntin’ Pussy Cats.

The game turned out to be a second half blowout. The Puntin’ Pussy Cats were crowned the victor with a 28-6 win, but the first half remained competitive.

With the game scheduled for 8 p.m., the lights flickered on five minutes before kickoff, leaving little time for warm-ups. The two teams colliding in the championship match were not fazed though. Even with the lights on, neither team warmed up. The Psych Ward huddled and talked strategy, while the Puntin’ Pussy Cats elected to talk about hunting.

Upon receiving the kick, the Puntin’ Pussy Cats, consisting of ex-SDSU athletes, set the tone of the game with a halfback pass for 20 yards. The following play resulted in a 30-yard touchdown pass from the Puntin’ Pussy Cats’ quarterback Megan Otte to a receiver down the middle of the field.

They failed on the two-point conversion attempt.

As skillful as the Puntin’ Pussy Cats offense seemed, the Cats would prove to be equally gifted on defense. Smothering coverage and a tumultuous rush forced the Pysch Ward into a quick three-and-out.

Junior Carrie Dickmeyer fielded the ensuing punt and returned the kick 45 yards for another Puntin’ Pussy Cats touchdown. Failing to convert the two-point conversion, Puntin’ Pussy Cats jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead.

After throwing an interception, the Psych Ward showed signs of life by forcing the Puntin’ Pussy Cats into a fourth and long, and producing a turnover on downs.

With a minute thirty left in the first half, the Psych Ward, a name inspired by a team made up mostly of nursing majors on the psychiatric rotation, took over on their own 8-yard line. In the midst of three defenders, senior Jessica Lustfield made a leaping grab. Weaving, dodging and occasionally sidestepping, the nursing major left a trail of defenders in her wake en route to a 52-yard reception and the team’s first score. The Psych Ward trailed 6-12 going into halftime.

The second half exhibited the sheer dominance of the Puntin’ Pussy Cats’ physical superiority. They held the Psych Ward scoreless while posting 16 points themselves. Although losing handily, Psych Ward players were pleased with their performance.

“[Puntin' Pussy Cats] haven’t been scored on all season,” said senior Krista Williams. “We came and did what we wanted to do, scoring on them.”

Regardless of their overpowering defensive record, Puntin’ Pussy Cats quarterback Otte denied expecting winning.

“We knew we had a good chance to win,” she said.

The Puntin’ Pussy Cats will travel to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion to determine a state champion.

Coming off of Friday’s 2-1 win over the University of Montana, SDSU hosted the University of Northern Colorado Bears for a windy, overcast Sunday match .

The Jacks were looking to repeat. Those aspirations were thwarted by a hungry Bears’ offense, attempting almost twice as many shots on goal as the Jacks. SDSU also went the entire game without a corner kick attempt, while UNC took seven in the first half alone. State fell to UNC 0-2.

The score did not accurately reflect the evenness of the two teams, however.

Facing a 30 mph wind and a talented front line, the Jacks held the Bears scoreless through the 39th minute of play. With six minutes remaining in the first half, the center referee waived off an assistant referee’s foul call directed toward a Bears’ midfielder. The ensuing play resulted in a UNC goal by midfielder Megan Bellendir, after forward Jessica Zimmerman crossed the ball from near corner flag for the assist.

“It was the only time in the game [the referee] did not honor the linesman’s call,” said SDSU Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer. “Giving them a goal with six minutes to go in the first half … changed the whole game.”

With the wind at their backs, the Jacks’ shots on goal grew from 3 in the first half to 11 in the second. The majority of the second half was played on the Bears’ half of the field.

State’s best scoring opportunity came in the 77th minute when sophomore forward Kelsey Worcester received a pass from the backfield. She then lofted a pass over the UNC defense to forward Lisa Robinson. The Bears’ goal-keeper, Dana Garrett, foiled the breakaway as Robinson failed to convert an off-balance shot.

The Bears scored their second goal in the 52nd minute on a swift attack. UNC quickly transitioned from defense to offense, and forward Chelsey Ekenberg finished the attack with a shot to the back of the net. It proved to be UNC’s only quality scoring opportunity in the second half.

The win snapped a seven game losing streak for the Bears, and was not what Wedemeyer expected from his team, whose record fell to 4-9-1.

“They’ve been playing hard in training sessions and games,” Wedemeyer said, “[the team] did not bring that same effort today.”

He said the team needs to increase the pressure placed on defenses by improving the quality of attacks.

“We’re just going to have to bring focus … change mentality.”

The Jackrabbits host Utah Valley State Thursday at 7 p.m. at Fishback Soccer Park.