The Game
No. 17/12 South Dakota tips off with Omaha at noon Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
The Coyotes
No. 17/12 South Dakota (27-2, 16-0 Summit) ran the table in league play for the second time in three years. The Coyotes are the only team in Summit history to go undefeated twice. South Dakota is led by Summit League Player of the Year
Ciara Duffy's 17 points and five assists per game. The senior is also in the conversation on a national scale for the espnW Mid-Major Player of the Year and the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year. She's joined on the all-Summit first team by junior
Hannah Sjerven, who's averaging 11.9 points and 7.1 boards per game. Sjerven's also blocked 54 shots as the Summit League's Defensive Player of the Year. Junior
Chloe Lamb picked up second-team honors with 11.3 points per game and the best 3-point percentage in the league (.468). Seniors
Taylor Frederick and
Madison McKeever were both honorable mention, with Frederick also earning the Summit's Sixth Woman of the Year award.
The Mavericks
Omaha (7-22, 2-14 Summit) makes the Summit Tournament as a No. 8 seed a year after being left home. The Mavericks are led by all-Summit League second-team pick Mariah Murdie's 11 points and six boards per game. She averaged 14 points in conference play. Murdie starred in the second meeting with South Dakota this season, tying her then-season high of 20 points. She had 17 of UNO's 19 first-half points in the game.
The Series
South Dakota leads the series between the former NCC foes 48-35. The Coyotes have won the last six meetings, dating back to the 2017 Summit League Tournament. It was the only time the two teams prior to this year that the two teams have met in Sioux Falls. The Coyotes won both meetings with Omaha by nearly the same line as the league play average – with wins of 32 and 33 points.
One Last Thing
South Dakota enters the postseason with the nation's fourth-longest winning streak at 16 games datinig back to a 13-point road loss at current No. 1 South Carolina.
