Tipping Off
After playing three road games in five days, the Mavericks finally return home for a four-game home stand beginning this Thursday at 7 p.m. when they host first place South Dakota State.

The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video are available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits

• The Mavericks capped off their road trip with a bang as they took down Denver 75-64 in a makeup of their postponed game from December. During the game, Omaha took its largest lead yet in a conference game this season, going up by 21 points at the end of the third quarter. Halfway through their conference schedule the Mavericks are 9-9 overall and 4-3 in the league play. Those nine wins are the most they have had since reaching 12 in 2017-18.
• For the second game in a row, the Mavericks shot over 50% as a team, shooting 53.7% (29-for-54) overall and 52.6% from deep (10-for-19).
• Elena Pilakouta made history on Monday when she became the 27th Maverick ever and the fourth in the Division I era to reach 1000 career points. Having also reached 500 rebounds earlier this season, Pilakouta is now just the 11th Maverick in history and second in the Division I era to record 1000 points and 500 rebounds. With her first four baskets of the day, she extended her consecutive field goals made streak to 20. Following this performance, Pilakouta leads the league with a 602 FG% (97-for-161) and is seventh in the league in points (238), PPG (13.2), rebounds (115), and RPG (6.4).
• Kennedi Grant also had a notable performance on Monday as she shot an even .500 (7-for-14) to lead Omaha with a career-high 19 points. She now has 152 points (9.5 PPG) on the season, with 53 in her last four games alone.
• Grace Cave also set a couple new personal bests with six assists and nine rebounds, as well as scoring eight points to set a new career, single-season high with 174 on the year. She remains in the top 10 in the Summit with 56 assists and 32 steals.
• Aaliyah Stanley had her sixth-straight double-digit scoring game with 10 points at Denver, breaking back into the Summit League top 10 in points with 224 and PPG at 12.4.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
The Jackrabbits entered the season ranked 23rd in the AP top-25 poll and earned votes through the first four weeks of the season. Despite dropping out of the rankings, SDSU is still14-5 overall with an undefeated 7-0 record in the Summit League. 

Last season, South Dakota State finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the league at 29-9 overall and 17-1 in the conference, ultimately falling in the Summit League Championship 45-56 to South Dakota. The Jackrabbits still went on to the WNIT, winning all five matches before advancing to the finals and taking down Seton Hall 82-50 to claim the championship.

Redshirt senior forward and 2020-21 Summit League Player of the Year Myah Selland remains one of the top players in the league, placing in the top 10 in points (317), PPG (16.7), rebounds (116), RPG (6.1), FG% .525), FT% (.824), and steals (29). She tied her career-high with 30 points vs. North Dakota on January 7. 

Senior forward Paiton Burckhard is right behind Selland in points (214), PPG (11.3), rebounds (112), and RPG (5.9), all of which rank in the top-20 in the league. She had a double-double back in December vs. UNI, scoring 13 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

Head Coach Aaron Johnston is in his 23rd year leading the Jackrabbits, becoming the program's winningest coach in history with a 556-184 record, as well as the winningest coach in Summit League history with 379. He has also guided the program to 10 NCAA tournaments and five WNIT appearances.

All-Time Against South Dakota State
The Mavericks are 34-46 all-time against the Jackrabbits, going just 2-20 against them in the Division I era, but 32-26 back in Division II. Omaha's last victory in the series came in the opening round of the 2021 Summit League Tournament in which they upset SDSU 52-40. The Jackrabbits won both contests last season 72-49 and 77-62. Across both games, Pilakouta and Cave totaled 23 points and 15 points, respectively.