South Dakota State returns to First Bank & Trust Arena this week to host North Dakota in the annual Play4Kay game Thursday and Kansas City on Saturday afternoon for the Jackrabbits’ National Girls & Women in Sports celebration.

The Jackrabbits are 18-6 overall and 8-2 in league play. SDSU beat St. Thomas, 84-51, last Wednesday night in the Jacks’ only contest of the week.

North Dakota is 7-18 on the season and 3-8 in Summit League action. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a split week with a loss to Omaha on Thursday and a win over Kansas City on Saturday. The Fighting Hawks are led by Mackenzie Hughes, who paces UND in scoring (11.2 PPG), assists (3.3 APG) and steals (1.2 SPG).

Kansas City is 7-17 overall and 4-7 conference play. The Roos went 0-2 last week against North Dakota State on Thursday and North Dakota on Saturday. The Roos have multiple players contributing to the leading stats. Emani Bennett is pacing UMKC in scoring (14.5 PPG). Elauni Bennett is leading the Roos in rebounding (7.2 RPG) and Tierra Trotter tops the team in assists (3.2 APG) and steals (1.4 SPG).

KEY STORYLINES

• South Dakota State enters the week with an 18-6 overall record and can reach 20 wins by the end of the week. Should the Jacks go 2-0 this week, SDSU will have reached 20 wins in 15 straight seasons and 23 times overall under AJ.
• Brooklyn Meyer enters the week with 1,846 career points (5th all time at SDSU) and is 42 points from sole possession of third place on SDSU’s career scoring chart (page six). She averages 21.5 points per game.
• Brooklyn Meyer scores 21.5 points per game (13th in NCAA) and is .637 from the floor this year (4th in NCAA). She is one of four players in the country averaging 20+ points and shooting better than 60% this year (Audi Crooks, Iowa State & Jaliya Davis, Kansas & Joyce Edwards, South Carolina).
• Maddie Mathiowetz is SDSU’s second leading scorer with 12.5 points per game and has scored 15+ points in five of the last seven games.
• Emilee Fox scores 9.4 points per conference game with 2.6 3-point makes per league contest. She is .500 from deep against Summit League opponents, which leads the conference.
• In conference games, SDSU is second in the Summit League with a .489 team field goal percentage. The Jacks have 11 players shooting better than 40% in league action. The Jacks’s .473 overall field goal percentage is 16th in the country.
• In conference games, the Jackrabbits lead the Summit League in scoring defense (55.6), 3-pointers per game (8.0), rebounds per game (39.4), rebounding margin (10.5) and assists per game (18.4).

-GoJacks.com-

By: Meghan O’Brien

PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill Tuesday that deregulates gun silencers by removing them from the state’s definition of a controlled weapon.

Unregistered possession of a controlled weapon is a felony, which could result in two years of prison time. That will no longer apply to silencers, also known as suppressors.

“South Dakota is the most Second Amendment-friendly state in America, and this is yet another opportunity for us to pave the way and set an example for the rest of the nation,” Rhoden said in a statement Tuesday.

Rhoden said South Dakota is the first state in the nation to remove suppressors from its list of controlled weapons.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Casey Crabtree, R-Madison, who is running for the Republican nomination for the state’s lone U.S. House seat.

“Gun suppressors are hearing protection, not a weapon, and I’m glad that South Dakota will no longer be regulating them,” Crabtree said in a statement.

Republican Attorney General Marty Jackley, who is also running for the U.S. House nomination, is another supporter of the legislation. He told a Senate committee last month that regulating silencers “doesn’t promote or help public safety.”

“It’s simply extra government that doesn’t achieve any result,” Jackley said.

The bill passed through both chambers of the Legislature without any “no” votes. National opponents of silencer deregulation, including the organization Everytown for Gun Safety, say silencers make it harder for bystanders or law enforcement to identify and react quickly to gunshots.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Hall of Fame received a major gift from sculptor Dale Lamphere.

Officials announced on Tuesday that it had received the copyright to the iconic “Dignity of Earth and Sky.”

Lamphere and his wife, Jane Murphy, made the generous charitable gift.

The gift allows the Hall of Fame to protect the legacy of the recognizable artwork.

“Dignity of Earth and Sky” has become a powerful symbol of South Dakota, connected to the state’s history and culture.

The Hall of Fame will now oversee the use of the image, ensuring its integrity.

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