The Game
No. 17/12 South Dakota tips off with Oral Roberts at noon Monday in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
 
The Coyotes
No. 17/12 South Dakota (28-2, 16-0 Summit) rolled past Omaha 99-40 in its Summit League Tournament on Saturday. USD's 99 points were the most the program has scored in a Summit Tournament game and it was the fifth-most by any team in the tournament's history. South Dakota ran the table in league play for the second time in three years. The Coyotes cleaned up in the Summit postseason awards, becoming the only team in Summit history to place five players on the first team, second team or honorable mention. Senior guard Ciara Duffy is the Summit League Player of the Year and junior center Hannah Sjerven joins her on the first team. Sjerven was also the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Junior guard Chloe Lamb was second team. Senior forward Taylor Frederick and senior guard Madison McKeever were both honorable mention. Frederick was also the league's Sixth Woman of the Year. The Coyotes look to advance to their third-straight Summit championship game.
 
The Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts (15-15, 9-7 Summit) defeated Western Illinois 74-66 in Sunday's semifinal to advance. WIU made it a four-point game midway through the third quarter, but two quick buckets from all-Summit guard Keni Jo Lippe drew the Golden Eagles' advantage back out. Lippe finished with a double-double 19 points and 11 boards, while starting center Montserrat Brotons tallied her own double-double of 16 points and 10 boards. It marked the second-straight year that the Golden Eagles took down the Leathernecks in the quarterfinals as the tournament's four seed. Oral Roberts looks to advance to its first championship game since 2010.
 
The Series
South Dakota owns a 13-3 lead in the series with Oral Roberts, which includes two victories in Sioux Falls. The Coyotes look to advance to their seventh Summit League Tournament Championship game in eight years. This will be the third time the Coyotes will have to go through Oral Roberts in the semifinals to get there (2016, 2018).
 
One Last Thing
South Dakota ran through the Summit League regular season with a 32-point average margin of victory. Oral Roberts kept the Coyotes within four points on their home floor, the only game inside of double-figures in conference play for USD.