Fearless freshman leads South Dakota State to monumental upset

Palo Alto, CA -- The Miami (FL) Hurricanes were supposed to march to the Sweet 16 in Lexington.

Apparently, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits didn't get the memo. Led by guards Madison Guebert and Macy Miller, the Jackrabbits punched their ticket to the second-round game on Monday, sending the Hurricanes home with a 74-71 win.

The Jackrabbits, who have qualified for seven of the last eight NCAA tournaments, have advanced to the second round for the first time since 2009.

From the beginning of the game, Miami and South Dakota State were fighting back and forth, with each team trying to establish dominance on Stanford's home floor. Miami finished the first quarter with a 22-18 lead, but the Jackrabbits came back to outscore the Hurricanes 19-17 in the second, going into halftime only down 39-37.

The opening tipoff of the third quarter was where South Dakota State finally got comfortable. The Jackrabbits went on an 11-1 run, which gave them a 55-48 lead going into the final quarter, In the final quarter, Miami started to make a comeback of sorts.

With 5:11 to play, guard Adrienne Motley scored on a layup to put Miami within four, 63-59. Elle Thompson would answer for South Dakota State with a three pointer to put them back up by seven, with Miller scoring another jumper to put SDSU up 70-62. SDSU didn't score in the final 3:09, but took advantage of a poor shooting night by the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes went 28-of-76 from the field; leading scorer Jessica Thomas was held to seven points, all of which were scored in the first half.

Madison Guebert led the Jackrabbits with 19 points, and Miller had 18. The Jackrabbits will play the winner of the Stanford-San Francisco game on Monday.