SIOUX FALLS – The Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship begins Saturday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
Regular-season champion South Dakota State (23-6, 15-1) has won the tournament eight times in 10 years of eligibility, including last season. The Jackrabbits have a 25-2 mark in the event.
“We’ve played well,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said of his team’s season. “Momentum doesn’t mean a whole lot right now. We’ve gone into the tourney with positive momentum; we’ve gone in sometimes with losses – it’s really just about trying to play great basketball once the tournament starts.
“I do like our team; I like how we’ve played all year; I like how we handled pressure situations, so we can draw on some of those things from the year. But really, now we just have to play well in those games.”
No. 2 seed South Dakota (26-4, 14-2) is the only conference member to beat SDSU in the past two seasons, pulling off a regular-season sweep last year before winning 105-98 in double overtime at home on Jan. 6. The Jackrabbits beat the Coyotes 82-78 in overtime Feb. 24 in Brookings.
The teams have met four times in the final – SDSU is 4-0 – and are on track to do the same this year. The Jackrabbits prevailed by a 65-50 margin in 2018.
SDSU opens against No. 8 Purdue Fort Wayne (7-21, 3-13) in the quarterfinals Saturday at noon.
USD takes on No. 7 North Dakota State (7-21, 4-12) at 2:30 p.m.
“I think we’re just really excited,” Jackrabbit senior Madison Guebert said entering the tourney. “This time of year always brings a lot of different emotions and lots of energy. We’re just trying to prepare for our first game and take it one game at a time, because if you look ahead, it’s not very beneficial. You don’t want to look past anyone, so it’s kind of a take it day-by-day kind of thing.”
The quarterfinals continue Sunday and the semifinals are Monday. All games will air live on MidcoSN.
The championship is Tuesday at 1 p.m. and will air live on ESPNU.
SDSU vs. USD
March 12, 2013 – SDSU 56-53 (final)
March 10, 2014 – SDSU 72-58 (semifinal)
March 10, 2015 – SDSU 72-57 (final)
March 8, 2016 – SDSU 61-55 (final)
March 6, 2018 – SDSU 65-50 (final)
No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 8 Purdue Fort Wayne
Noon
Records: SDSU 23-6 (15-1 SL), PFW 7-21 (3-13 SL).
Regular season: SDSU 85-52 on Jan. 3 in Fort Wayne, Ind.; SDSU 92-68 on Feb. 20 in Brookings.
Points-Points Allowed (P-PA SL): SDSU 79.4-62.9 (83.4-60.4), PFW 62.2-70 (59-71.4).
Jackrabbits
The Jackrabbits have won 13 consecutive games.
They claimed the regular-season title for the sixth time, but first since 2013-14.
“We’ve been playing well,” said Guebert. “I think we found a lot of things we can still improve on, so right now in practice we’re really trying to work on all those different things, especially defensively – continuing to tighten it up and close some more gaps and work on our help and just guarding the ball in general. I think we’re just focusing on everything we can still get better at because, yeah, we’ve won those 13 games and it definitely gives us momentum, but we can’t really be content with that.
“We’re just trying to stay focused and hungry.”
Macy Miller leads the team in points (17.4), assists (3.5) and steals (1.4) per game while adding 5.7 rebounds. She is shooting 54.5 percent.
“I’m pretty happy with how we’ve been playing,” the senior said. “I think we’ve kind of built some momentum and I’m happy with how we’ve played defensively and offensively, but we don’t want to settle there. We’ve really been working hard going into this postseason because we want to be playing our best basketball. I think AJ’s done a really good job of that, just really pushing us in practice.”
She is the school’s all-time leader in points with 2,223 – 54 off the Summit League record – and games played (138).
Miller is 9-0 in tournament games, earning MVP honors in 2016 and 2018.
“I just think AJ does a really good job of preparing us and getting us ready for the postseason,” Miller added. “It’s not easy, you know, every team wants to win that Summit League title. I think he does a really good job (with) our emotions and just making us play as hard as we can. And we also have veterans that know what it’s like and what it takes to win that Summit League title.”
Guebert averages 13.7 points and has hit 85 treys.
She holds the Summit League record for career 3-pointers with 351, and her 1,737 points rank fifth in SDSU, and 12th in Summit League, history.
Myah Selland has added 12.5 points and 5.2 boards in 27 games.
Tagyn Larson is averaging 11.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. She is shooting 56.5 percent.
“I just think having another year under your belt makes anyone more confident, so I think that plays into it,” the junior said of her big season. “And my teammates and coaches have had a major part, just believing in me and having confidence in me.”
Tylee Irwin averages 7.4 points. Paiton Burckhard averages 5.9 points and is shooting 60.5 percent (72-of-119) from the floor.
SDSU SUMMIT LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON
Dec. 28 – W 93-84 at Western Illinois
Jan. 3 – W 85-52 at Purdue Fort Wayne
Jan. 6 – L 105-98 (2OT) at South Dakota
Jan. 9 – Won 76-59 vs. Denver
Jan. 12 – W 68-55 vs. Oral Roberts
Jan. 18 – W 66-48 at North Dakota
Jan. 23 – W 86-33 vs. North Dakota State
Jan. 26 – W 81-47 vs. Omaha
Jan. 31 – W 83-67 at Denver
Feb. 2 – W 74-65 at Oral Roberts
Feb. 9 – W 81-58 vs. North Dakota
Feb. 13 – W 82-38 at Omaha
Feb. 16 – W 88-48 at North Dakota State
Feb. 20 – W 92-68 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne
Feb. 24 – W 82-78 (OT) vs. No. 23 South Dakota
March 2 – W 100-62 vs. Western Illinois
Mastodons
“They have a lot of quickness, a lot of athleticism; they can make 3s; they have the ability to score inside with some of their posts, so they’re just a versatile offensive team,” said Johnston. “And then defensively, they’re athletic and their size caused us some problems, so we have to have a little bit better play for those things.”
De’Jour Young averages 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
Kierstyn Repp adds 9.4 points, Sh’Toya Sanders 9.2, Jaelencia Williams 9.1 and Hannah Albrecht 8.3. Sanders averages seven rebounds.
“They have some athletic players and I think we’ll have to get out and guard them one-on-one; they can drive anytime and pass out to people and they’re also a great 3-point shooting team,” added Miller. “And they post big down low, so I think they can do it all and it’s just going to require team defense for us to stop them.”
No. 2 South Dakota vs. No. 7 North Dakota State
2:30 p.m.
Records: USD 26-4 (14-2 SL), NDSU 7-21 (4-12 SL).
Regular season: USD 67-41 on Dec. 30 in Fargo, N.D.; USD 76-47 on Feb. 28 in Vermillion.
Points-P.A. (SL): USD 77.5-58.6 (80.6-60.8), NDSU 57.4-70.2 (57.7-72.9).
Coyotes
Their other league loss was a 104-99 setback at Denver on Jan. 3.
USD reached No. 23 in the AP poll two weeks ago after winning 11 consecutive games.
Ciara Duffy does it all for the Coyotes, averaging 15.2 points, five rebounds and 3.1 assists. She’s made 56 3-pointers.
Hannah Sjerven puts up 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds off the bench. Allison Arens averages 11.2 points and 5.2 boards per game.
Chloe Lamb added 9.6 points, Madison McKeever 8.2, Taylor Frederick 8.1 and Monica Arens 6.5.
Bison
Michelle Gaislerova leads the way with 14.8 points per game. She’s made 74 treys.
Sofija Sivaljevic adds 9.1 points, Emily Dietz 8.8 and Rylee Nudell 8.7.
No. 4 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 Western Illinois
Noon
Records: ORU 17-12 (10-6 SL), WIU 12-17 (8-8 SL).
Regular season: ORU 68-64 on Jan. 5 in Tulsa, Okla.; ORU 92-85 on Feb. 23 in Macomb, Ill.
Points-P.A. (SL): ORU 71.8-72.1 (72.1-68.6), WIU 75.9-78.8 (77.6-79.1).
Golden Eagles
Lakota Beatty (15), Maya Mayberry (14.6) and Keni Jo Lippe (13.6) all average double-figure points.
Beatty, who’s hit 93 3-pointers, adds 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, while Lippe contributes 5.3 boards.
ORU has won four games in a row.
Leathernecks
Olivia Kaufmann averages 16 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals per contest.
Taylor Higginbotham adds 14.2 points and 7.4 boards, while former Jackrabbit Annabel Graettinger contributes 12.5 points per outing.
No. 3 Denver vs. No. 6 North Dakota
2:30 p.m.
Records: UD 17-12 (10-6 SL), UND 11-18 (6-10 SL).
Regular season: UD 87-66 on Jan. 5 in Denver; UD 92-91 (OT) on Feb. 23 in Grand Forks, N.D.
Points-P.A. (SL): UD 81.1-76 (80-75.4), UND 65.3-72.8 (67.9-75.8).
Pioneers
Madison Nelson (16.2), Lauren Loven (14.5), Samantha Romanowski (12), Claire Gritt (10.8) and Courtney Smith (10.4) all average double-digit points.
Nelson adds nine rebounds and Romanowski 5.9 assists per game. Loven has hit 103 treys on 222 attempts (46.4 percent).
Fighting Hawks
Lexi Klabo leads the league with 18.5 points per game while adding 8.2 rebounds. She is shooting 44.5 percent from the field.
Jill Morton averages 9.2 points, Julia Fleecs 8.9 and Melissa Dailey 6.9.
Did not qualify: Omaha (8-21, 2-14 SL).
