South Dakota State shot a season-best 51 percent from the field, but the Jackrabbit women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome 25 turnovers in dropping a 79-67 decision Thursday night at Illinois State.
Illinois State, the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion, improved to 2-1 on the season.

WBK: Augie Opens With Win Over Cougars
The Augustana women’s basketball team defeated the University of Sioux Falls 85-55 Wednesday night in the Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge at the Sioux Falls Arena. Augie used a balanced offensive attack in the win with five Vikings scoring in double figures.

The SDSU football team is closing in on its first division one postseason appearance, but its mascot has already qualified.
"Jack Rabbit" is one of eight to reach the quarterfinal round of the 2009 Capital One Mascot Challenge.

SDSU assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Promotions Justin Swanson credits Jackrabbit Nation.

"They made it known from the get-go that they wanted to see "Jack Rabbit" do well.

The Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge is Wednesday night at the Sioux Falls Arena, pitting Augustana against USF in both men's and women's basketball. The event has piqued public interest in the past, but this year, there's a little added intrigue.
When Augustana and USF meet, city-wide pride is on the line.

Redshirt freshman Jordan Miller scored a game-high 26 points in his first career game, including connecting on eight three-pointers to lead No. 22 Southwest Minnesota State to a season-opening 86-59 victory over Dordt College (Iowa) on Tuesday night in Marshall. The loss was the first of the season for Dordt and drops to 3-1 overall.

The University of Sioux Falls football team placed 11 on the all-Great Plains Athletic Conference team and earned all three major recognitions, announced by the conference office Tuesday morning.
Head coach Kalen DeBoer earned GPAC Coach of the Year. This season DeBoer coached the Cougars to an 11-0 overall and 10-0 GPAC record, including wins at FCS Division I University of North Dakota and NAIA No.

South Dakota State downed Mayville State on Monday at Frost Arena by the score of 89-56 to open the season with consecutive wins for the first time since the 2003-04 season, when it opened with 17 straight wins.
The Jackrabbits opened the season on Friday with a 77-61 win at Wyoming, an outcome that surprised some, but not SDSU head coach Scott Nagy.

University of Sioux Falls quarterback Lorenzo Brown has been named the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week, as announced by the national office Monday. Brown was also named the GPAC Player of the Week on Monday.
Brown guided USF to a 49-21 victory over No. 4 Morningside College (9-1 overall, 9-1 GPAC).

The Augustana men’s basketball team opened the 2009-10 season with a strong all-around effort in routing Jamestown 82-61 Sunday afternoon at the Elmen Center.
The Vikings (1-0) got a strong inside performance from Lee Stephens, solid all-around play from Cody Schilling and sharp outside shooting from Kenny Brown and Cameron McCaffrey to pick up the season-opening victory in front of 1,850 fans.

The NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Committee announced Monday that the Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team has received the No. 2 seed in the Central Region and will face No. 7-seed Metro State (Colo.) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Concordia University, St. Paul received the No.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the Volleyball National Championship qualifiers for the 30th annual event. The tournament will feature 36 teams with 12 Opening Round matches played at on-campus sites that will take place on Nov. 21. The winners of the National Championship Opening Round matches, as well as host school Morningside (Iowa), will advance to the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa, location of the NAIA National Championship final site presented by Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation Dec.

Wisconsin-Green Bay spoiled the season opener for The University of South Dakota women’s basketball team Sunday, prevailing in a defensive battle, 53-40, at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D. UW-Green Bay, the 11-time defending Horizon League champions, improved to 2-0 on the year, while USD dropped to 0-1.

Jake Thomas' sixth 3-pointer of the game with 39 seconds left gave South Dakota the lead and the Coyotes held on for a 76-73 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Sunday in the Duel of the Desert tournament.
Thomas scored 20 points to lead South Dakota (1-2). Tyler Cain had 16 points and eight rebounds, Kendall Cutler added 10 points and eight assists, and Roman Gentry made two free throws in the final seconds for the Coyotes.

Becca Tobin scored a career-high 18 points to help No. 16 Arizona State beat South Dakota State 73-64 Sunday in the Sun Devils' opener.

Danielle Orsillo added 12 points, five assists and four steals for the Sun Devils, which lost in an NCAA regional final to national champion Connecticut last season.

The University of Sioux Falls football team (11-0) will put their 25 game win-streak on the line when they play NAIA No. 14 Minot State University at the USF Sanford Complex on Saturday, November 21, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The game is the first round of the playoffs for the No. 1 Cougars, who will be defending their national championship.

The South Dakota football team posted one of its top offensive performances of the season to propel the Coyotes to a thrilling 50-48 victory over Cal Poly in front of more than 7,900 fans in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The win handed the Mustangs their first home loss of the season and sealed a 5-5 season for USD, while also giving the Coyotes third place in the Great West Conference with a 2-2 record.

NAIA No. 1 University of Sioux Falls defeated No. 4 Morningside College (9-1 overall, 9-1 Great Plains Athletic Conference) 49-21 in a highly anticipated showdown for the GPAC title in Sioux City, Iowa on the campus of Morningside.
Senior quarterback Lorenzo Brown (Bristol, Conn.) threw for four scores, three to junior receiver Jon Ryan (Watertown, S.D.) and added two more touchdowns on the ground in the second half to help close the game out.

Eric Ellestad’s third field goal of the game, with 2 minutes and 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, gave Minnesota a 16-13 victory over visiting South Dakota State Saturday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium.
Minnesota improved to 6-5 overall and became bowl-eligible with the victory.

Third-ranked Northwestern defeated 18th-ranked Doane 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-22) in the GPAC Volleyball Championship played tonight in Orange City, Iowa. The Red Raiders, who won the regular season championship as well, won their 20th straight match and improve to 33-2 on the season. Doane, the third seed in the 12-team tournament, falls to 28-8.

Calvin Haynes and Roeland Schaftenaar had 14 points each to lead Oregon State to a 62-47 win over The University of South Dakota men’s basketball team in action Saturday night in Lubbock, Texas.
Oregon State (1-1), which competes in the Pac 10, led 32-21 at halftime.

The Coyotes (0-2) were led by Louie Krogman (So., White River, S.D.), who had 11 points.