SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The top-seeded South Dakota state women’s basketball team led wire-to-wire and rolled past No. 5 North Dakota, 84-55, Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Summit League Tournament at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
The Jackrabbits will play in the title game for the fourth straight season on Sunday afternoon, taking on the No. 2 Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts. SDSU improves to 28-3 on the season.
Brooklyn Meyer and Haleigh Timmer each notched double-doubles for the Jackrabbits. Meyer posted 22 points and 10 boards while Timmer tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds on the day.
Paige Meyer was also in double figures, putting up 17 points to go with four rebounds and four assists. Mesa Byom finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.
North Dakota stayed tight with the Jackrabbits through the opening five minutes, but SDSU finished the first quarter on an 11-2 run to go up by 11, 22-11. Neither team shot it well in the second quarter but the Jacks outscored the Hawks 12-10 in the period to lead 34-21 at the break.
A 16-3 stretch that included a 10-0 run in the third pushed SDSU ahead by 25. The Jackrabbits maintained their lead through the remainder of the contest to advance to Saturday’s championship matchup.
The Jackrabbits finished the day with a 54-26 advantage in rebounding, their largest rebounding margin of the season. SDSU had 18 offensive rebounds for for 22 second chance points.
Kiera Pemberton paced North Dakota with 23 points and three assists. Fatima Ibrahim grabbed nine rebounds.
NOTES
- South Dakota State is 40-5 all time in the Summit League Tournament. SDSU is set to play in its 14th championship game, in which the Jacks are 11-2 all time.
- South Dakota State’s last 12 semifinal victories have all been by double figures – the last time they did not win one by that margin was a 70-67 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in 2011 in a matchup won by the third-seeded Jackrabbits.
- The Jackrabbits will take an 18-game overall winning streak into the title game and have now won eight straight Summit League Tournament games as they seek their third straight title.
- The last time SDSU had two players with a double-double was against Omaha on February 17, 2024 (Mesa Byom and Madison Mathiowetz).
UP NEXT
South Dakota State will take on No. 2 Oral Roberts Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the championship game of the Summit League Tournament.