# 2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball team

The 2020–21 South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball team represented South Dakota State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Jackrabbits, led by 21st-year head coach Aaron Johnston, competed in the Summit League. They played their home games at Frost Arena in Brookings, South Dakota.

## Previous season

In 2019–20 the Jackrabbits went 23–10 overall and 13–3 in conference play, finishing in second place.
South Dakota State played North Dakota in the quarterfinals, winning 72–43, and then followed it up two days later with a win in the semifinals against North Dakota State 76–56. The Jackrabbits made an appearance in the championship game against 17th-ranked South Dakota, falling short 58–63.
The postseason was put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak and hopes for a possible NCAA at-large bid or automatic WNIT birth were dashed.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Rylie Cascio Jensen | 2 | G | 5' 10" | Senior | Fremont, NE | Graduated |
| Tagyn Larson | 24 | F | 6' 2" | RS Senior | Sioux Falls, SD | Graduated |
| Megan Bultsma | 50 | C | 6' 3" | Senior | Plankinton, SD | Graduated |

### Additions

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Haley Greer | 11 | G | 5' 10" | Senior | Winnetka, IL | Graduate transfer from Colgate |
| Madysen Vlastuin | 22 | F | 6' 1" | Freshman | Lennox, SD | Signed for the 2020–21 season |
| Emily Herzberg | 4 | G | 6' 0" | Freshman | Melrose, WI | Signed for the 2020–21 season |
| Mesa Byom | 24 | F | 6' 2" | Freshman | Melrose, WI | Signed for the 2020–21 season |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 28, 2020* 2:00 p.m., MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | No. 15 Iowa State | W 76–69 | 1–0 | Frost Arena (678) Brookings, SD |
| November 30, 2020* 6:00 p.m., MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Creighton | W 66–47 | 2–0 | Frost Arena Brookings, SD |
| December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m. | | No. 18 Gonzaga | W 75–72 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | Frost Arena (583) Brookings, SD |
| December 10, 2020* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 22 | at Kansas State | L 53–62 | 3–1 | Bramlage Coliseum (437) Manhattan, KS |
| December 12, 2020* 3:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 22 | at Northern Iowa | L 48–65 | 3–2 | McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA |
| December 15, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Drake | W 87–73 | 4–2 | Frost Arena Brookings, SD |
| December 19, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at No. 20 Missouri State | W 60–52 | 5–2 | JQH Arena Springfield, MO |
| December 21, 2020* 1:00 p.m. | | at Montana State | W 82–67 | 6–2 | Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT |
| December 23, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | W 74–63 | 7–2 | Frost Arena Brookings, SD |
| Summit League regular season ||||||
| January 8, 2021 5:00 p.m. | | Western Illinois | W 71–61 | 8–2 (1–0) | Frost Arena (504) Brookings, SD |
| January 9, 2021 5:00 p.m. | | Western Illinois | W 87–66 | 9–2 (2–0) | Frost Arena (553) Brookings, SD |
| January 15, 2021 3:00 p.m. | | at Omaha | W 62–50 | 10–2 (3–0) | Baxter Arena (169) Omaha, NE |
| January 16, 2021 3:00 p.m. | | at Omaha | W 64–54 | 11–2 (4–0) | Baxter Arena (207) Omaha, NE |
| January 22, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Dakota | W 81–52 | 12–2 (5–0) | Frost Arena (594) Brookings, SD |
| January 23, 2021 5:00 p.m. | | North Dakota | W 66–44 | 13–2 (6–0) | Frost Arena (558) Brookings, SD |
| January 29, 2021 5:00 p.m. | No. 25 | at Denver | | | Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO |
| January 30, 2021 5:00 p.m. | No. 25 | at Denver | | | Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO |
| February 5, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 23 | South Dakota | W 64–45 | 14–2 (7–0) | Frost Arena (808) Brookings, SD |
| February 6, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 23 | South Dakota | W 80–75 | 15–2 (8–0) | Frost Arena (835) Brookings, SD |
| February 13, 2021 2:00 p.m. | No. 23 | at Oral Roberts | W 82–60 | 16–2 (9–0) | Mabee Center (1013) Tulsa, OK |
| February 14, 2021 2:00 p.m. | No. 23 | at Oral Roberts | W 73–61 | 17–2 (10–0) | Mabee Center (0) Tulsa, OK |
| February 19, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 23 | at North Dakota State | W 86–78 | 18–2 (11–0) | Scheels Center (1005) Fargo, ND |
| February 20, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 23 | at North Dakota State | W 69–60 | 19–2 (12–0) | Scheels Center (1955) Fargo, ND |
| February 26, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 22 | Kansas City | W 73–53 | 20–2 (13–0) | Frost Arena (640) Brookings, SD |
| February 27, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 22 | Kansas City | W 72–66 | 21–2 (14–0) | Frost Arena (629) Brookings, SD |
| Summit League women's tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2021 11:45 a.m., ESPN+/MidcoSN | (1) No. 22 | vs. (8) Omaha Quarterfinals | L 40–52 | 21–3 | Denny Sanford Premier Center (200) Sioux Falls, SD |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2021* 4:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (9 R) No. 25 | vs. (8 R) Syracause First round | L 55–72 | 21–4 | Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received votes |
| (NR) | Not ranked |