BROOKINGS — How high is up for the South Dakota State women? That’s the question as the Jackrabbits get ready to kick off the 2025-26 season.
SDSU’s win totals in the last four seasons: 29, 29, 27, 30.
Their record in Summit League games over the last five seasons: 81-1.
The Jackrabbits once again made noise in the NCAA tournament last year, knocking off Oklahoma State in the first round and then challenging eventual national champion UConn in the second. They lost 91-57, which sounds bad, but the Huskies won all of their NCAA tournament games by at least 23 points.
As the new season dawns, the Jacks and their fans are asking themselves if they can go a step further in 2026. It won’t be easy. Even after playing an uncommonly difficult non-conference schedule last year the Jacks still only earned a 10-seed in the tournament.
This year they once again have a loaded pre-Summit League slate, and a loaded roster to go with it. This should be an NCAA tournament team once again, and while those high-end goals are several months away, the work to accomplish them starts now.
“Last year was a great finish to the year,” said coach Aaron Johnston, who enters his 26th full season at the helm with a 628-195 record. “I think everyone understands we’re continuing to progress. That means we’ve got to figure out a way to win that next game in the tournament, but we’re continuing on a good path. There’s a lot of momentum, but this year’s team is different.”
South Dakota State’s Madison Mathiowetz drives with the ball during a women’s college basketball game against Creighton on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024 at First Bank and Trust Arena in Brookings.
David Bordewyk / S.D. NewsMedia Association
Indeed, the Jacks said goodbye to point guard Paige Meyer, who’s on the short list of the greatest players in program history. They also lost sharpshooter Haleigh Timmer, their second-leading scorer last year at 12.8 ppg, and key frontcourt players Mesa Byom and Kallie Theisen.
But this team obviously knows how to reload, and they added a key transfer in Maggie Hartwig, a 6-foot-1 post player who averaged 16.5 points and 9.2 rebounds for Evansville last year.
She’ll team with preseason player of the year Brooklyn Meyer (17.0 ppg) to give the Jacks a formidable due on the paint, while senior Madison Mathiowetz (8.9 ppg) and sophomore Katie Vasecka (8.4 ppg as a true freshman) were both named preseason all-conference. Those two will carry much of the load at point guard, while sophomore Emilee Fox and O’Gorman alum Mahli Abdouch could also factor in.
Abdouch is one of three in-state prospects who redshirted last year, joining Claire Sheppard, a 6-1 wing from Flandreau and Jaidyn Dunn, a 6-1 forward from Sioux Falls Jefferson. They all have a chance to contribute, while 6-2 guard Hadley Thul, 5-11 wing Abby Hoselton and 6-3 post Brooklynn Felchie make up this year’s freshman class.
SDSU’s Emilee Fox drives the ball against UND during a Summit League women’s basketball tournament semifinal game on Saturday, March 8, 2025 at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
“We’ve been working on trying to be more dynamic and fast-paced, which is pretty fun,” Vasecka said. “We definitely played a lot of good games last year. We have a good non-conference coming up, a lot of tough games, so it’ll be good to see how we connect with each other, with the new players and all the returners we have. It’ll be good to see how we can play together and compete against these tough teams.”
It’s almost assumed the Jacks will be in the NCAA tournament again — they’ve gone 13 times since becoming eligible in 2009. Three consecutive seasons of going undefeated in conference play tends to create those expectations. But the Jacks know the Summit League is improving, and they know the value of non-conference play. They’ll face Creighton, Murray State, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Kansas State, Duke and Texas, among others.
SDSU’s Ellie Colbeck drives toward the basket during the Jacks’ win over Eastern Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 at First Bank & Trust Arena.
Dave Bordewyk/SDNMA
That puts the onus on the Jacks to hit the ground running and be ready to play at a high level early in the season. A tough ask, but they’re used to it.
“We come in every year, look at what we have and then try to set our goals maybe higher than what people think we can accomplish,” said Mathiowetz. “You don’t want to put a ceiling on success. Every year we do a good job of focusing on the day-to-day details and then seeing where that can take you.”
SDSU WBB
Last year: 30-4, NCAA tournament second round
Coach: Aaron Johnston (27th year)
Returning starters: 2
Opener: Nov. 3 at Creighton
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.