SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 1 South Dakota State used a game-sealing 14-0 run late in the fourth quarter to secure its second straight Summit League Women’s Basketball Tournament and post a 67-54 victory over No. 2 North Dakota State at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
Championship MVP Paige Meyer led all scorers with 18 points and started that title-clinching spurt with a steal and driving layup as the Jackrabbits pulled off the regular season-tournament title double for the second straight season, winning 40 straight over League foes during that stretch.
Brooklyn Meyer added 15, Madison Mathiowetz chipped in with 12 and Mesa Byom rounded out a quartet of Jacks that finished in double figures with 11 points to go with a game-high nine rebounds.
NDSU, who was led by Heaven Hamling by 16 points, led through a majority of the first quarter before Meyer broke a 10-10 tie with a free throw in the closing minute.
That provided SDSU with its first lead of the game but the Bison regained the lead by scoring the first five points of the second quarter. NDSU actually made its first two field goal attempts, then missed its next 11 but SDSU could not take advantage as the Jacks had their own struggles.
SDSU would miss their first six attempts before Paige Meyer broke that drought at the 5:35 mark with a three-pointer.
Mathiowetz hit her own triple at the 2:33 mark to put SDSU back in the lead as the Bison were going mired in their own elongated cold stretch.
A second-chance basket by Abbie Schulte ended NDSU’s drought and a Hamling banked in a triple from the top of the key at the buzzer to make it a 22-20 SDSU lead at the break.
As cold as both teams were in the second quarter, it was a different tale during the third quarter.
The Bison went 8-for-17 from the field, while the Jacks went 6-for-11 with Byom and Mathiowetz both going 2-for-2 from the three-point line. With all that factored in, SDSU outscored NDSU 20-19 and to take a 42-39 lead into the final quarter.
It remained a tight game with Hamling burying a 3-pointer to pull the Bison within a point at 47-46 with just over six minutes to play but that would be as close as NDSU would get down the stretch of the program’s first title game appearance as a League member.
From there, SDSU reeled off the next 14 points to put its 11th all-time Summit League Tournament title in the books.
The 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament Selection Show will air on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT on March 17.
Turning Point
Paige Meyer sparked a 14-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that led the Jackrabbits to their first back-to-back titles since doing the same in 2018 and 2019.
Inside the Box Score
- SDSU went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the third quarter and finished the game 8-for-17. NDSU would go 3-for-18 from deep.
- SDSU had 13 turnovers in the first half but only had three miscues after the break.
- The Jackrabbits held the Bison to 33 percent shooting from the floor with droughts of 0-for-11 and 1-for-11 in the second and third quarter, respectively.
- The Bison held a 15-10 edge on the offensive glass and a 15-5 advantage in second-chance points.
News & Notes
- This marks the eighth time in the last 10 seasons that the No. 1 seed has played the No. 2 seed in the #SummitWBB title game. Both seeds have now won four of those title games.
- South Dakota State won its second straight tournament title and 11th overall in program history, which is the most by any Summit League team.
- South Dakota State now holds a 38-5 overall record in the Summit League Tournament.
- North Dakota State was playing in its first postseason title game at the Division I level.