VERMILLION — Well, it’s really a rivalry again.

The USD Coyotes had risen to the top of Summit League women’s basketball alongside South Dakota State early this decade, but fallen from that perch over the last few years.

Coming into Saturday’s I-29 clash the Coyotes had lost seven in a row to the Jackrabbits, their last regular season win coming on Jan. 8, 2022 in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

That streak ended in front of an announced crowd of 3,060 that was clearly craving a win in this series, and behind the performance of a group of players who have mostly had nothing to do with the seven-game streak but seemed bursting at the laces to finally experience it.

The final was USD 73, SDSU 54, a score that left little room for excuse-making. The Yotes didn’t just beat the Jacks, they whipped them.

“We had four (transfer) seniors who had only one shot at this, to be able to play in this rivalry game at home, and they capitalized on it,” said Carrie Eighmey, USD’s second-year coach. “They played great. Our whole team played great. There were some moments where the energy was so great that I was trying to make sure our team was staying composed and locked in, and they didn’t need my help.”

Angelina Robles transferred to USD from Denver, another Summit League school, so she knew about the rivalry without having been in it. She made sure her debut was an explosive one, hitting 6-of-7 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 25 points as USD built a 32-30 halftime lead and then outscored the Jacks 41-24 after the break.

“It felt awesome,” Robles said. “I talked about this with Coach in the spring when I was being recruited here, how much it means to be a Yote and playing against what was the top team in the Summit League. So it just feels great. And it came down to preparation and we just won.”

The Yotes (17-6, 7-2) had built up confidence with a strong first half of their season. An early-season win over Kansas State suggested they were markedly improved after going 11-20 last year. But fans and observers were still waiting for a ‘prove-it’ win. This one certainly qualifies.

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“I think it just goes to show how hard we’ve been working this entire time,” said Yotes forward Elise Turrubiates, who had 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win. “I know we’ve been counted out a few times by other people, and it feels good to come out and show them what we’re made of and that we’re here to stay.”

It also raises questions about the Jackrabbits. Their loss to North Dakota State earlier this month snapped their 67-game Summit League winning streak, but certainly didn’t feel like any reason to panic, largely because this year’s Bison look legit. USD now appears to be as well, while the Jacks look suddenly vulnerable. They had no real energy on Saturday, not looking like a team eager to spoil a home crowd’s rivalry fun.

And worse, while senior post Brooklyn Meyer was her usual dominant self, scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, she didn’t get much help from her teammates. Madison Mathiowetz had 10 points, but the whole rest of the team mustered a mere 17. The Jacks were 4-of-23 on 3-pointers and had just five assists. The only other teams this year to hold them to as few points as their 54 on Saturday were North Carolina, Duke and Texas.

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

“We just look like we were kind of a step behind in most things,” said Jacks coach Aaron Johnston. “So we’ll figure out if we’ve got to continue to change some things so we can be a little more competitive, and also figure out a way to compete a little bit harder. Those things have to happen. I’m very disappointed in how we played, but we’ve got to pick ourselves up and figure out a way to improve a little bit here as we get to the last month of the season.”

SDSU’s players had never lost to a Summit League opponent coming into this season. Losing to NSDU gave them a taste of what that feels like, and now the Yotes have sent them a clear message. It’s not going to be easy anymore.

“We can’t just show up and win games,” Meyer said. “We have to actually play our best game, and I think that’s a big part of it. Play as hard as we can and execute things that we want to execute, and I feel like it’s….I hate to see this kind of outcome, but yeah, we’re going to use it going forward.”

USD could do little to stop Meyer on Saturday, but few teams can. By taking away everyone else, the Coyotes may have stumbled onto a good strategy in making SDSU look ordinary.

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

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“You look at a lot of their stat sheets at end of games, and you’ve got four or five kids that just hit you all over the place,” Eighmey said. “Because Brooklyn is — she’s not just a great scorer. She makes her teammates better. She’s a really good passer, and so I think you can’t — you need to be overly concerned about her, but you can’t put all of your focus on just her and trying to eliminate her scoring. Otherwise, everybody scores.”

For his part, Johnston didn’t sound worried that his team had been exposed. He said the lack of support for Meyer cost them in this particular game, but that his roster remains talented enough for that not to be an issue most nights.

At the same time, he acknowledged that a few players are not contributing all that they’re capable of. If they don’t begin to, SDSU could be watching the NCAA tournament from home for the first time since 2022.

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

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NDSU now has a two-game lead in the Summit League race. The Jacks and Yotes are essentially tied for second. And the Jacks still have to go to Fargo.

“We’ll regroup and just figure out what the best buttons, I guess, to push or how to influence or how to help support,” Johnston said. “But they’re trying hard. We weren’t competitive in this game, but we’re trying hard. We’re having a good year. Had a couple losses. Don’t feel good. It’s a little unusual. I get all that. They’re trying hard. They care an awful lot. They want to do well. We just had a few games this year where we just quite haven’t had it. I don’t want to say it’s all them. (The players) got to take responsibility. I think (the coaches) got to figure out how to help them a little more. They’ve got to meet us there and I think we’ll be in a good place.”

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.