SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) – Second-seeded South Dakota made it back-to-back Summit League Women’s Basketball Championships for the first time in program history, knocking off Omaha 66-43 in the tournament title game Tuesday afternoon at the Sanford Pentagon.
The Mavericks’ historic run came to end after becoming the first eight seed to win a game in the tournament after toppling top-seeded South Dakota State in the opening round and eventually becoming the first to reach the championship game after a semifinal win over fifth-seeded Western Illinois two days later.
Championship MVP Chloe Lamb had 17 points in the final and her classmate Hannah Sjerven, who won that same honor at the 2020 Championship, led the Coyotes with 20 as they posted the largest title-game victory in the history of the tournament that dates back to 1993.
The first half was one filled with momentum shifts as both teams had their moments. The Coyotes limited the Mavericks to a 2-for-11 field goal clip in the opening quarter and led 13-0 before Omaha’s Josie Filer connected on a 3-pointer almost seven minutes into the contest. The Mavericks had four turnovers and five misses from the field before Fiser’s basket and the slow start allowed South Dakota to take a 15-5 lead after 10 minutes.
Omaha regrouped, however, and put together a much better start to the second quarter, charging back to within a point following a triple by Sophie Johnston with 3:21 left in the half.
Unfortunately for the Mavericks, the Coyotes did their own regrouping from that point and reeled off eight straight points to extend their lead at the half to 29-21. Lamb had 10 first-half points and went 3-for-5 from the field
South Dakota carried over the momentum throughout the third quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 20-9 to put the game away. Sjerven scored eight of those third-quarter points and added six more to land on the all-tournament team for the third straight year. Lamb earned the honor for the second straight season.
Filer was joined on the all-tournament team by Claire Killian, but the Coyotes did a nice job of taking the Mavericks’ top two scorers out of rhythm. They both only contributed three points for Omaha, who was led in scoring by Lauren Frost. The reserve guard had 10 points whlie Elena Pilakouta added nine.
South Dakota will find out its NCAA Tournament seeding on Monday at 6 p.m. CT when the bracket for San Antonio is released live on ESPN.
The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota 66, No. 8 Omaha 43
Records: South Dakota (19-5) | Omaha (7-13)
Location: The Sanford Pentagon – Sioux Falls, S.D.
Turning Point
The Coyotes put together a 21-3 run that spanned the end of the second quarter and start of the third to break open a 21-20 contest
Inside the Box Score
- The Coyotes opened the game on a 13-0 run, closed the first half on a 9-1 run and opened the third quarter on a 13-2 spurt
- The Mavericks went 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the first half, but only 4-for-14 from inside the arc
- USD limited the Mavericks to five field goals in the second half
News & Notes
- The back-to-back tournament titles are the first for South Dakota in program history
- The Coyotes have now won three overall tournament titles (2014, 2020 and 2021)
- Omaha matched its all-time win total at the tournament with two victories in 2021
- The matchup between female head coaches was the first since 2014 when Amy Williams’ South Dakota squad defeated Kerry Cremeans’ Denver team
- 2014 was also the last year when it was not a one-two matchup in the tournament title games (No. 4 South Dakota vs. No. 6 Denver)
- All three of the Coyotes’ wins in the tournament were by 20-plus points: 89-66 over No. 7 Oral Roberts, 81-55 over No. 3 North Dakota State and 66-43 over No.8 Omaha
2021 Summit League Women’s Championship All-Tournament Team
- Chloe Lamb, South Dakota (MVP)
- Liv Korngable, South Dakota
- Hannah Sjerven, South Dakota
- Josie Fiser, Omaha
- Claire Killian, Omaha
(The Summit League contributed this report/news release.)
