SDSU coach Scott Nagy said it felt like a dream. But the 6,526 fans in the Arena and many more around the nation can attest that it’s not: The Jackrabbits are going to the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Griffan Callahan drilled a 3-pointer from the wing with slightly more than a minute to go and the Jackrabbits held on to win the first Summit League championship with a thrilling 52-50 overtime victory over Western Illinois at the Sioux Falls Arena Tuesday night.

SDSU's Nate Wolters and Griffan Callahan celebrate after the Jackrabbits' victory in the Summit League title game over Western Illinois Tuesday / Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger

The drama mounted all night, with SDSU rallying from 10 points down in the second half to come back and tie the game with two made free throws by Callahan, then sent it to overtime when Ceola Clark’s jumper went wide as regulation time expired with the score tied at 44.

Western Illinois played the game precisely for its lockdown defense considered by stats and reputation as the stingiest in the Summit League. The Jackrabbits shot 35 percent in the first half and then only worsened that clip with a 28 percent performance in the second half.

But SDSU got stops when it counted, holding Western Illinois without a basket over the final 4:19 of regulation while cobbling together enough offense to close the gap with pairs of free throws from junior Nate Wolters and Callahan.

The back and forth continued into overtime when SDSU had Chad White hit a three-pointer to move the Jacks ahead 49-48 with just under three minutes left and then Obi Emegano put WIU ahead 50-49 on a layup with 2:04 left. When it came down to crunch time, the senior had his say.

“The main thing was to stay positive,” Callahan said. “They just told me to jump up and shoot with confidence. We weren’t going to stall and if you get an open look, knock it down and that’s what I did.”

“We weren’t good offensively because of how good they were defensively. We stayed in the game because we defended and we’ve been preaching that all year,” said Nagy, who moved to 5-3 in Summit League tournament play.

It is the crowning achievement in the 17-year career of Nagy, who has won 316 games and was there for each of the tough years during the Division I transition.

SDSU's Brayden Carlson cuts through traffic in the first half of the Jackrabbits' overtime win against Western Illinois on Tuesday. / Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger

On the biggest stage the Jackrabbits have ever played on, the statement of the defensive turnaround was exemplified with the Jacks holding WIU to just 50 points.

“It was the focus coming off of last year and it kept us in the basketball game,” Nagy said.

“We just kept getting stops and tried to get a shot to fall and Griff hit a couple of huge ones,” said Wolters, who finished the game with 14 points and tournament MVP honors. Callahan was the only other Jackrabbit in double figures with 10.

For the Leathernecks, one win short is tough to take.

“This was a road game,” WIU head coach Jim Molinari said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making excuses. But I think you have to be 10 points better to win here and we weren’t tonight. I knew because of the crowd that they would never let the game get away from them.”

The crowd made a difference in the final minutes, making it difficult to hear late in the game and then making their mark afterward, with SDSU’s students rushing the floor at the final horn.

SDSU now waits and will find out, along with the rest of the country, where they stand in the field of 68 on Selection Sunday. It will be well-noted that this is the first time the Jacks have earned a bid to the Big Dance.

“It’s still soaking in and it probably will for a few days. It should be a lot of fun, (the) first in school history,” Wolters said.

The Jackrabbits hopes of reaching a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament ended up resting on a gut-wrenching — and controversial — final turn of events.

SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston celebrates with the Sioux Falls Arena after the Jackrabbits defeated UMKC, 79-78 in overtime to win the Summit League title. / Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger.

SDSU had the ball with 11 seconds left after a jump ball where the arrow favored the Jacks and a pair of jumpers of UMKC’s Eilise O’Connor gave the ‘Roos the lead at 77-76. The Jacks fired up an inbounds play from under the basket, geared towards Jennie Sunnarborg but the ball ended up in the hands of Jill Young near the left block.

Young made a few moves and attempted a shot before a foul was called on UMKC’s LeAndrea Thomas A 91 percent free throw shooter on the season, Young knocked down the first shot, tying the game and then followed a UMKC timeout by calmly knocking down the second shot, putting the Jacks ahead 78-77 with 7.1 seconds left.

“I’ve shot a lot of free throws in my life over the last 23 years so there definitely wasn’t any doubt or hesitation in my mind. I just wanted to go up and think they were going in,” Young said.

UMKC got the ball to Dayon Hall-Jones, whose drive the basket was stopped by the SDSU defense before she tried to draw contact and the shot came up short and time expired. No foul was called by the officials on the floor, allowing SDSU to escape with the win

“I just wanted to attack the basket and try to get a foul and get the win for my team. I guess it just didn’t happen,” Hall-Jones said, struggling to speak with tears welling up in her eyes. “The ball didn’t go in and that’s just it.”

“I’m not an official and I don’t really know. I thought the game was very well officiated. We just wanted the ball in [Dayon’s] hands … we just felt like she could make a play,” UMKC head coach Candace Whitaker said.

“Close games always come down to a couple of shots. We could have made a couple and pushed our lead. They could have made a couple to win the game,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said.

Big swing

While the game came down to a unbelievable finish, the Jackrabbits had to do a lot of rallying in the second half after being down at halftime by nine points, 36-27. The Jacks preceded that with an 11-3 run over the final three minutes of the first 20 minutes.

SDSU opened the second session with four points from Leah Dietel, who was often left free in the second half as UMKC’s attention drifted to Sunnarborg and five points from Ashley Eide.

“They dominated all of the first half,” Johnston said. “Without that run at the end of the first half, we certainly don’t win the game.

Johnston acknowledged Dietel’s performance as being one that likely went unnoticed and as an unlikely offensive source, she made a difference in the first few minutes of the second half.

All-Tournament Team Members

Jennie Sunnarborg won the 2012 tournament’s MVP award, joining Kristin Rotert, Maria Boever and Jennifer Warkenthien as previous SDSU winners of the honor.

Jill Young joined Sunnarborg on the team for the first time in her career. Hall-Jones and Kim Nezianya represented UMKC and Valencia Kelly made the team for Western Illinois.

Attendance record in danger

• The women’s championship drew 5,153 fans, third-most in league history. The four highest numbers have come in Sioux Falls.

• The women’s-only attendance for the tournament was 17,846, a new Summit League record.

• Overall attendance for the four-day event currently sits at 33,743, less that one thousand shy of reaching the all-time overall combined record set in 2009 at 34,681. With a large men’s crowd still looming, look for the record to be broken Tuesday night.

SDSU’s men’s basketball team is one win away from unparalleled school history after a 63-47 win over Southern Utah in the Summit League tournament semifinals Monday night in Sioux Falls.

The second-seeded Jackrabbits (26-7) will meet the fourth-seed Western Illinois, who upset top-seed Oral Roberts earlier in the night, at 8 p.m Tuesday night.

SDSU's Jordan Dykstra attempts a three-pointer in the first half over Southern Utah's Matt Massey. / Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger

In front of a dominant crowd of 6,448 at the Sioux Falls Arena, SDSU jumped to an early 8-2 advantage before the Jackrabbits fell into a lull on that crowd support and noise wouldn’t be enough. The lead teetered for most of the first half and SDSU finally went to the locker room with a one-point advantage That was because the Jacks couldn’t hold their own inside and with a weak first 20 minutes in the books, senior leadership took over.

“In the first half, they just beat us up and they were just so much more physical than we were. We shot too many threes and we were just too soft and they were more physical,” SDSU head coach Scott Nagy said. “It was hard for me to watch.” I know this to be a fact that before I ever got to them, Griffan [Callahan] had already talked to everybody about that, making sure that it was taken care of.

“We got our butts kicked inside,” Jordan Dykstra said simply.

The situation was rectified early in the second half, when SDSU opened the second half on a 16-3 run to stretch the lead to 14 points. 11 of those points came from the Jackrabbits’ two all-league selections in Dykstra and Nate Wolters, who combined for 48 of the 63 points.

“In the second half, we got the ball inside to Jordan and Tony [Fiegen] and they kind of got things going and that opened things up for me,” Wolters said, who finished the game with 31 points, the 10th time in his career his crossed 30 points in a game.

Consider it a sharp contrast to where the Jackrabbits were one year ago in the semifinals, suffering a 20-point loss to Oakland and allowing 110 points to the high-powered Golden Grizzlies. Now more defensively-minded, SDSU was able to stop the offensively hot Thunderbirds.

SDSU's Nate Wolters drives to the basket in the first half of the Jacks' win over Southern Utah Monday night. / Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger.

“That’s the only difference in our basketball team. We don’t score as many points as we did last year and we don’t have to because we’re better defensively,” Nagy said.

Southern Utah failed to find the bucket enough early in the second half, making just seven shots in the second half. In the end, SDSU proved to be too much. The Thunderbirds were dealt a bad blow early in the first half when top scorer Jackson Stevenett had to leave the game with an injury.

“I’m not making excuses. I just feel bad for the young man, who has had so much strength and character all year for our basketball team,” Southern Utah head coach Roger Reid said.

With ORU knocked from contention, Nagy said there was no cheering about the Western Illinois victory, despite the roar from the crowd when the first game was over.

“We better have ourselves prepared because I know [WIU head coach Jim Molinari] will have his ready. I don’t think we have to remind our players,” Nagy said.

If the Jackrabbits are on the ladder of success, they are at the top rung. The prize is one win closer for a school and a state that has never been.

“This is definitely why you work hard the whole season and in the offseason and why you put in all of the hours in the gym. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Wolters said.

An excited Sioux Falls Arena fell silent in the first half the Jackrabbits’ win over IUPUI Monday when SDSU guard Steph Paluch left the game with an injury to her right knee.

Paluch had a break away basket and came to a jump stop before falling to the ground as she finished the play with a made bucket. Play was stopped immediately and the officials called for the trainers, with the Pierre native in obvious pain.

“When that happened, we were kind of emotional about it. But in those times we need to come together and we knew we just had to come together and do it for Steph,” backcourt mate Jill Young said.

Paluch has started in all 31 games this season for the Jackrabbits and watched the second half from the end of the bench with her leg resting on a chair.

“You can always replace the player on the floor,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said. “You lose the person and the emotion. You’re just sad to see someone who’s been with you the whole way and out there all along not be there tomorrow. You don’t want to see this type of adversity but when you do, what a good life lesson to learn from it.”

Big help from Boever

A successful story on how to rehab from knee injuries is being played out with SDSU’s Gabby Boever.

“Going on a run at the end of the first half was big for us, just because the game was so close, and coming back right away in the second half, we needed that and it made us come together a lot more.”

Boever finished the game with 12 points and four rebounds. A redshirt freshman, she missed all of last season because of a knee injury in her senior year of high school.

“With Steph going down and it makes everyone come together and you know that you have to pick it up and make sure you go with what Steph was bringing to the team,” Boever said.

Title tilt

Missouri-Kansas City clinched their spot in the finals with a 71-56 win over Western Illinois on Monday. It’s the first time since 2005 that the Kangaroos will appear in a final.

Now, a tall task in SDSU stands in front of the Kangaroos’ title hopes. The Jackrabbits beat UMKC twice earlier this season but the ‘Roos have not lost since they lost to the Jacks’ on Feb. 11 in Kansas City, 79-73.

“You can’t let them have three-pointers in transition,” UMKC coach Candace Whitaker said of the Jackrabbits. “They’re tough to guard because they move it inside and outside and they’ll high-low you to death if you let them,”

UMKC witnessed the Jacks put away IUPUI on two runs and the ‘Roos know they can’t let that happen on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re just going to have to dour best to cut their runs and not let their fans get into an uproar. There’s a lot of people who are Jackrabbits fans and we just can’t let them have runs,” Whitaker said.

After two big runs, the Jackrabbits advanced to the Summit League final in a 79-54 victory over IUPUI, but at the expense of Steph Paluch, who went down with a knee injury late in the first half.

The Jags executed well on both ends of the floor in the first half, but the Jacks erupted on a 10-3 run in the last 4:22 of the first half, after the injury to Paluch. SDSU (23-8) picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, with Jill Young leading SDSU to a 15-3 run by hitting three three-pointers for her first points of the game.

“In the first half, I think it’s safe to say that we struggled a little bit offensively. IUPUI is playing really well right now and we knew that they would be a good team. In the second half, we just came out and we were a lot more aggressive and got some looks in transition.

While the Jackrabbits were able to overcome the adversity of the first half to outscore IUPUI (13-19) by 15 points in the second half, the Jacks will have to find a way to replace their Paluch, who had been a starting guard for 31 games this season. SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said that Paluch will be evaluated at a later date, but she is out for the season.

“Everybody can always find a way to get another player on the floor. We could look at Gabby, we could look at Tara (Heiser), and we would all be really comfortable with either of those two,” Johnston said, visibly shaken talking about losing Paluch. “You lose the person, the emotion of it more than anything else. You can always game plan, but it’s sad to lose someone that’s been out there all along not be able to be there for such a big game tomorrow. That’s really the disappointment.”

SDSU had four players reach double-digits in the win, led by Young with 14 points, all coming in the second half and eight rebounds, followed by Jennie Sunnarborg with 13 points, and Ashley Eide and Gabby Boever, both with 12.

SDSU meets the winner of Missouri-Kansas City and Western Illinois on Tuesday, both teams the Jackrabbits have swept this season. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and will start at 3 p.m. in the Sioux Falls Arena.

With Paluch’s injury, the Jackrabbits will now rely on their depth to carry them to a potential Summit League championship and NCAA tournament berth. While the Jacks are known in the conference for having a deep rotation, the bench that outscored the IUPUI bench 32-6 will now play an even bigger role in the Jackrabbits’ success.

“The fact that we keep moving forward is a testament to how many good players we have on the team. We’re really deep. We always have been, and I think that’s an important part of why we always have success.” Johnston said.

UPDATE: Jackrabbits will play UMKC on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Sioux Falls for the conference title.

Hopefully by the end of this, you will have a better idea of the schools, teams and characters that make up the Summit.

IPFW: The first of many abbreviated schools in the league, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne is a big time volleyball power. Their women’s basketball coach Chris Paul (not that Chris Paul) refers to SDSU as “South” and NDSU as “North”. Why? I don’t know. We’ll see how he handles USD being in the league.

IUPUI: By far the largest enrollment in the league, this school is a combination of Indiana and Purdue Universities. The Jaguars have only had college sports since 1972. But they churned out George Hill, who now plays for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

UMKC: Missouri-Kansas City isn’t really that good in any sport but they are nicknamed the Kangaroos. President Harry S. Truman attended night classes at their law school in the 1920s.

North Dakota State: The big rivals to the north. The Bison have grown into the #1 rival for SDSU as both have gone through the transition of Division I together. If you go to only one game a season, it better be the NDSU or USD basketball game.

Oakland: You can look at Oakland as the snotty rich kids, as the campus is located near Auburn Hills, Michigan. Their men’s basketball team has been the best in the conference for the last couple of seasons and their swimming teams are amazing. They’ve won the Summit League Championships every season they’ve been in the league, winning 12 in a row.

Oral Roberts: Named for the evangilist, the Tulsa, Okla., school is now the smallest in the conference at a little over 3,000 students with Centenary’s (La.) departure to Division III. Their mascot is a Golden Eagle named Eli, which is an acronym for education, lifeskills and integrity. Yes, it is as dumb as it sounds. They have dominated baseball, winning the title every year since joining the league in 1998

South Dakota: The Jacks’ in-state rival. They have not been on SDSU’s schedule regularly in the major sports since the fall of 2004 when the transition to Division I started. USD decided not to go along with SDSU and NDSU before until a couple years later and got into the same two leagues as SDSU without much of a problem. The first couple of games in football and basketball will be epic just for the crowds.

Southern Utah: Not much to say about the Thunderbirds as this is their final year in the Summit. They go to the Big Sky and Nebraska-Omaha replaces them in 2012.

Western Illinois: Macomb, Illinois. You can’t get here from there. In the middle of nowhere, they are known as the Fighting Leathernecks. They use the nickname “Westerwinds” for their women’s team. Neither mascot makes sense. Again, not really good at anything, except softball.

10. Bested by the Bison – SDSU soccer falls to NDSU, Nov. 5, 2010

The Jacks had the northern neighbors where they wanted them — on their home field, with a chance to go to the Summit League Championship. But the Jackrabbits’ luck ran dry when NDSU’s Abbey Stratton fired a shot past goalkeeper Elisa Stamatakis to advance to the final on penalty kicks, 4-3 at Fishback Soccer Park.

On a cold and blustery night, the Bison mastered soccer’s most nerve-racking aspect to break a 1-1 tie and end SDSU’s championship hopes. Sports editor Drue Aman captured the final penalty kicks on video, which can be seen here.

9. Swimming Success – Jacks post best finish at Summit League Championships, Feb. 17-19

Behind freshman phenoms Chris Schreier and Phil Albu, plus a record-setting swim by Alexandra Hoffman, the SDSU swim teams posted their best conference finish since moving to Division I. The women finished second – only behind powerhouse Oakland – and the men finished third, earning head coach Brad Erickson coach of the year honors.

Over the four days, SDSU set 17 school records, including 11 on the men’s side. Hoffman’s performance in the 200 backstroke broke her own record from 2008, while Schreier became the first SDSU swimmer in 10 years to win a conference event.

8. Sent Home From Cincy – Xavier ends the Jackrabbits’ tournament run, Mar. 20

SDSU reached its third straight NCAA Tournament, but the story would end there after facing fifth-ranked and second-seeded Xavier in the first round, losing 72-56.

The Jacks had brief leads in the first half before the Musketeers, behind All-American forwards Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips, pulled away and dashed the upstart Jackrabbits hopes coming out of halftime.

“We’re proud that we got to be part of a group that really put SDSU on the map in Division I. Hopefully the players after us can keep that going and SDSU will continue to rise up and be a team that people recognize across NCAA Division I basketball,” said senior Kristin Rotert.

7. Runaway Winners – Men’s Cross Country repeats at Summit League Championships, Nov. 13, 2010

Repeating as champions isn’t an easy task, but the SDSU men’s cross country team placed three of its runners in the top 10 and picked up its second straight Summit League title in Carmel, Ind.

The strong tandem of Michael Krsnak and Anthony Bongard placed third and fourth, respectively in the 8,000 meter run and Jared Ailts finished ninth. All three, along with Greg Vollmer, who finished 12th, were All-League selections joining coach Rod DeHaven, as he was honored as Coach of the Year.

6. Upset Special – Jacks volleyball stuns NDSU at Frost, Nov. 6, 2010

The SDSU volleyball team had lost six in a row against the NDSU Bison but had to have a win at Frost Arena to stay in the conference tournament hunt and the Jacks did the trick in dominating fashion, 3-1, in front of the largest crowd of the season.

NDSU won the first set, but the Jacks won sets two and three before barely hanging on to win the fourth set, 29-27. The dramatic final set had 14 ties and eight lead changes total.

“We knew coming out what we had to do and what our goal was. This was a game that decided whether we would make the [Summit] tourney or not and we decided this year that we’re sick of being 5th,” said Ellyce Youngren, of the Jacks’ sixth straight conference win.

A dramatic five-set win later in the week over Oral Roberts assured the Jacks of their first Summit League Tournament appearance since 2007.

5. Barely Holding On – Jackrabbits squeak past Western Illinois in the Beef Bowl, Oct. 9, 2010

The Jackrabbits had to have it and they succeeded in keeping whatever slim chances they had at the Missouri Valley Football Conference title alive after a heart-stopping 33-29 victory over No. 20 Western Illinois at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

Kyle Minett scored three touchdowns and SDSU scored 19 points in the frenetic fourth quarter, the last of which came on a 13 yard touchdown pass from Thomas O’Brien to Colin Cochart, giving the Jacks a four-point lead with 1:36 left. Western Illinois rallied on the final drive, with Matt Barr picking apart the Jackrabbit secondary, but saw a late heave for the endzone get knocked away, giving SDSU their first win of the season after an 0-4 start.

4. Masto-done – SDSU men bounces IPFW in the Summit Quarterfinals, Mar. 6

The same two teams met in the 2010 quarterfinals with IPFW advancing, but with a tournament-record crowd on hand and Nate Wolters scoring 30-plus points, SDSU rolled on with a 85-75 win.

An early 14-0 run allowed the Jackrabbits to build an advantage early and built a 20-point lead in the first half, but IPFW continually made runs to get back in the game. The All-Summit League 1st team sophomore took it into his own hands, going for 30 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, powering the Jacks into a semifinal showdown with top-seed Oakland.

3. Husker Heartbreak – SDSU football falls short at Nebraska, Sept. 25, 2010

In the biggest game that the Jackrabbits have ever played against an FBS opponent, SDSU missed some opportunities that could have put them in line to shock the nationally-ranked Cornhuskers. Ultimately Nebraska closed out the Jacks’ hopes with 17-3 win.

“A lot of times we played with them, a lot of times I think we outplayed them,” said running back Kyle Minett, who had 112 yards on 28 carries.

Two penalties negated Jackrabbit scores and Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez did just enough to give the Cornhuskers the win, sending most of the 85,573 on hand at Memorial Stadium home happy. SDSU moved to 0-3 with the loss on the way to a 5-6 season.

2. Hawkeye Holdup – Jackrabbit men stun Iowa on the road, Nov. 14, 2010

The young Jackrabbits rolled into Iowa City and gave fans a taste of the type of play they would witness all season, as SDSU ruined new Hawkeye coach Fran McCaffery’s home debut with a 79-69 win.

Again, Nate Wolters stole the show with 25 points and nine assists, giving the Jackrabbits a 2-0 start to the young season. Senior Clint Sargent scored 16 points to help SDSU get past the Big Ten foe.

Iowa was able to hang around until Chad White hit a three with 10:55 to go, putting SDSU ahead for good and giving the Jacks a huge win early in the season.

1. Three Times at the Top – Jackrabbits beat Oakland for Summit League Championship, Mar. 8

It was a long and sometimes unpleasant road, but the SDSU women’s basketball team were champions again, defeating Oakland in the Summit League Championship Game, 61-54.

The Jacks toughened up and locked down an Oakland team that had stifled its first two opponents of the tournament, including top-seed Oral Roberts. Kristin Rotert and Jill Young each hit important free throws down the stretch to finish off the championship effort.

“It’s been amazing and not to take away anything from what we’ve done the last two years, but this one right here means the most. To fight through the adversity that our team has had this year, to struggle, and everybody on the outside doubting us. But together, this team made it happen,” said Rotert, who was named the tournament’s MVP.

While the Jackrabbits had trouble putting away the Golden Grizzlies, SDSU rode the wave of the home crowd at the Arena to seal the title for the third year in as many tries.

–Summaries written by Marcus Traxler

SDSU poses after beating Oakland in Tuesday's Summit League championship matchup. - Collegian Photo by Stephen Brua

It ends where it began.

SDSU lost to Oakland at home on January 24, 57-56 in overtime and the Jackrabbits missed free throws, looked weak defensively and didn’t seem to have that finishing power that they’ve had in the past.

SDSU has changed since that.

The Jackrabbits toughened up and found a way to finish, recording their third straight Summit League Championship in as many chances, defeating Oakland 61-54 on Tuesday at the Sioux Falls Arena.

“It’s been amazing and not to take away anything from what we’ve done the last two years, but this one right here means the most. To fight through the adversity that our team has had this year, to struggle, and everybody on the outside doubting us. But together, this team made it happen,” said Kristin Rotert, who was named the tournament’s MVP and averaged over 16 points per game over the three days.

Tested yet again, SDSU found a way to hold off the Golden Grizzlies, committing to the defensive end of the court and holding Oakland without a basket in the final two minutes of the game.

“I think that’s the kind of toughness that maybe we didn’t have all the time throughout the year. The talent was there but we didn’t have that kind of grittiness throughout the year. As the game wore on, our defense got better and better,” said Jackrabbit head coach Aaron Johnston.

The title game’s first half was closely contested with the Jacks and Oakland drawing even three times before SDSU could put together enough of a spurt to hold a 33-29 lead at halftime.

The Jackrabbits led the game just about all day but were never able to put away the fourth-seeded Golden Grizzlies. The inability to do so was never more apparent than when SDSU constructed a 10 point lead with 3:43 left. Oakland made three triples, the last of which cut the lead to three with just over two minutes to go.

“I would have been surprised if we would have pulled away from Oakland. We had a lot of individual players who were making a lot of big plays but we never really felt like we were going to pull away,” said Johnston.

With the game riding on free throws again, veterans Kristin Rotert and Jill Young teamed up to make three from the stripe, capping a tournament championship and making the Jackrabbits 9-0 all-time in Summit League tournament games.

Rotert had 17 points, matching the effort put forth by Oakland’s Bethany Watterworth. The low post duo of Jennie Sunnarborg and Katie Lingle each came up with 13 points and SDSU’s offense turned the ball over a season-low 10 times, reversing the stat that had been against the Jacks for the first half of the year.

“We made a conscious effort. We took care of the ball and we didn’t force anything that didn’t need to be forced,” Macie Michelson said.

Johnston says that his team isn’t the same as it was a couple of years ago and is much more efficient.

“I think we’re really a different team than we were 2 or 3 years ago. We don’t have tempo that we used to play with and we have to be more efficient and slow things down.

Nevertheless, the Jacks are dancing again.

“We came back and made big shots and big plays all the time and that’s why we were successful and will be successful every year,” Johnston said.