# 2018–19 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball team

The 2018–19 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball team represented South Dakota State University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Jackrabbits, led by nineteenth year head coach Aaron Johnston, competed in the Summit League. They played home games in Frost Arena in Brookings, South Dakota. They finished the season 28–7, 15–1 in Summit League play to win the Summit League regular season. They were champions of The Summit League women's tournament and earned an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they defeated Quinnipiac and upset Syracuse in the first and second rounds to advanced to their first sweet sixteen appearance where they lost to Oregon.

## Previous season

The Jackrabbits went 26–7 overall and 12–2 in conference play finishing second. The Jackrabbits won the 2018 Summit League Tournament defeating North Dakota State in the quarterfinals, Western Illinois in the semifinals, and South Dakota in the Summit League Championship 65–50 earning the Jackrabbits an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
During the selection show, the Jackrabbits received an 8 seed in the Spokane region facing the Villanova Wildcats, but lost in overtime 81–74.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 25, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Concorida (Neb.) | W 80–46 | | Frost Arena (1,213) Brookings, SD |
| November 1, 2018* 6:00 pm | | Mary | W 77–46 | | Frost Arena (1,341) Brookings, SD |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 11:30 am | | at No. 19 Marquette | L 52–91 | 0–1 | Al McGuire Center (2,430) Milwaukee, WI |
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Florida Gulf Coast | W 80–62 | 1–1 | Frost Arena (1,678) Brookings, SD |
| November 12, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Central Michigan | W 80–71 | 2–1 | McGuirk Arena (1,679) Mount Pleasant. MI |
| November 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | | Creighton | W 74–48 | 3–1 | Frost Arena (1,713) Brookings, SD |
| November 23, 2018* 9:30 pm | | vs. No. 4 Baylor South Point Shootout | L 66–72 | 3–2 | South Point Events Center (586) Las Vegas, NV |
| November 24, 2018* 7:00 pm | | vs. Buffalo South Point Shootout | L 55–61 | 3–3 | South Point Events Center (477) Las Vegas, NV |
| November 29, 2018* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | | Green Bay | W 77–47 | 4–3 | Frost Arena (1,782) Brookings, SD |
| December 4, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Chattanooga | W 71–54 | 5–3 | McKenzie Arena (1,279) Chattanooga, TN |
| December 8, 2018* 2:00 pm | | No. 21 Drake | W 80–71 | 6–3 | Frost Arena (1,711) Brookings, SD |
| December 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | | No. 7 Oregon | L 79–87 | 6–4 | Frost Arena (2,509) Brookings, SD |
| December 14, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Savannah State | W 97–49 | 7–4 | Frost Arena (922) Brookings, SD |
| December 18, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at Montana State | W 68–67 | 8–4 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,327) Bozeman, MT |
| December 20, 2018* 7:30 pm | | at Wyoming | L 70–77 | 8–5 | Arena-Auditorium (2,837) Laramie, WY |
| The Summit League regular season ||||||
| December 28, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Western Illinois | W 93–84 | 9–5 (1–0) | Western Hall (389) Macomb, IL |
| January 3, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Purdue Fort Wayne | W 85–52 | 10–5 (2–0) | Memorial Coliseum (529) Fort Wayne, IN |
| January 6, 2019 1:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | | at South Dakota | L 98–105 $^{2OT}$ | 10–6 (2–1) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (6,004) Vermillion, SD |
| January 9, 2019 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | | Denver | W 76–59 | 11–6 (3–1) | Frost Arena (1,828) Brookings, SD |
| January 12, 2019 2:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Oral Roberts | W 68–55 | 12–6 (4–1) | Frost Arena (2,829) Brookings, SD |
| January 18, 2019 7:00 pm, MidcoSN2/ESPN+ | | at North Dakota | W 66–48 | 13–6 (5–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,433) Grand Forks, ND |
| January 23, 2019 7:05 pm, MidcoSN2/ESPN+ | | North Dakota State | W 86–33 | 14–6 (6–1) | Frost Arena (1,679) Brookings, SD |
| January 26, 2019 2:00 pm, MidcoSN2/ESPN3 | | Omaha | W 81–47 | 15–6 (7–1) | Frost Arena (3,021) Brookings, SD |
| January 31, 2019 8:00 pm | | at Denver | W 83–67 | 16–6 (8–1) | Hamilton Gymnasium (457) Denver, CO |
| February 2, 2019 2:00 pm | | at Oral Roberts | W 74–65 | 17–6 (9–1) | Mabee Center (1,140) Tulsa, OK |
| February 9, 2019 2:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | North Dakota | W 81–58 | 18–6 (10–1) | Frost Arena (2,734) Brookings, SD |
| February 13, 2019 7:00 pm, MidcoSN2/ESPN+ | | at Omaha | W 82–38 | 19–6 (11–1) | Baxter Arena (625) Omaha, NE |
| February 16, 2019 1:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | at North Dakota State | W 88–48 | 20–6 (12–1) | Scheels Center (896) Fargo, ND |
| February 20, 2019 7:00 pm, MidcoSN2/ESPN+ | | Purdue Fort Wayne | W 92–68 | 21–6 (13–1) | Frost Arena (1,454) Brookings, SD |
| February 24, 2019 1:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | | No. 23 South Dakota | W 80–77 $^{OT}$ | 22–6 (14–1) | Frost Arena (2,557) Brookings, SD |
| March 2, 2019 2:00 pm | | Western Illinois | W 100–62 | 23–6 (15–1) | Frost Arena (3,064) Brookings, SD |
| The Summit League Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2018 12:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Purdue Fort Wayne Quarterfinals | W 88–50 | 24–6 | Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 11, 2018 12:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (4) Oral Roberts Semifinals | W 86–55 | 25–6 | Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 11, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (2) South Dakota Championship Game | W 83–71 | 26–6 | Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 23, 2019* 10:00 am, ESPN2 | (6 P) | vs. (11 P) Quinnipiac First Round | W 76–65 | 27–6 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| March 25, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN | (6 P) | at (3 P) No. 12 Syracuse Second Round | W 75–64 | 28–6 | Carrier Dome (2,474) Syracuse, NY |
| March 29, 2019* 10:30 pm, ESPN2 | (6 P) | vs. (2 P) No. 7 Oregon Sweet Sixteen | L 53–63 | 28–7 | Moda Center (11,324) Portland, OR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. P=Portland Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |