Jackrabbits Top Seed in Tournament after Perfect Conference Record

This year the Summit League Tournament has expanded to all 10 teams. There will be two play-in games on Friday as the bottom four teams will compete for the last two spots in the quarterfinals.

The Women’s play-in games will kick off the tournament in Sioux Falls on Friday with games at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The quarterfinals will be held on Saturday and Sunday with the semifinals on Monday. The tournament will end on Tuesday at 1 p.m. where the winner will claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. No. 8 St. Thomas Tommies (7-11 conference, 1216 overall) vs No. 9 Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-13 conference, 10-19 overall)

The Tommies won four of their last five games ending the season with a 74-68 win over the three-seeded North Dakota Fighting Hawks. This will be St. Thomas’ first Summit League Tournament appearance since joining the conference last year.

Senior guard Maggie Negaard, sophomore guard Jade Hill and sophomore center Jo Langbehn are all double-digit scorers. They are averaging 12.8, 11.5 and 10.9 points per game (ppg), respectively. St. Thomas allows the second least points per game (64) only behind top-seed SDSU.

The Leathernecks have lost their last three games of the year after dropping both games last weekend versus the North Dakota schools.

Junior guard Anna Deets is coming off a 25-point performance against the North Dakota State Bison. Deets is the leading scorer for the Leathernecks averaging 12.6 ppg, she is joined in scoring by redshirt junior Jada Thorpe who is averaging 11 ppg. Thorpe has come off the bench in the last 13 games. Western Illinois forces the second most turnovers per game (18.4) in the conference only behind North Dakota. Western Illinois won the first matchup between these two 77-75 in Minnesota. St. Thomas returned the favor, beating the Leathernecks on the road 71-57.

No. 7 Denver Pioneers (8-10 conference, 12-17 overall) vs No. 10 Kansas City Roos (3-15 conference, 7-22 overall)

The Pioneers went 2-2 to end the year with wins against No. 2 North Dakota State and No. 4 South Dakota. Denver lost their last game against Omaha 73-83.

The Pioneers are led by three Summit League newcomers in scoring: freshman guard Emma Smith (13.5), graduate student guard Ally Haar (10) and graduate student forward Mikayla Brandon (8.5). Brandon has recorded six double-doubles, one of which came against Kansas City. Senior forward Makayla Minnet leads the second-best blocking team in the conference with 72 blocked shots which is 30 more than second most in the Summit League.

Kansas City enters the tournament on an eightgame losing streak with their last win coming in the month of January versus the Omaha Mavericks. The Roos ended their season on the wrong side off a buzzer-beater against South Dakota on senior day.

Kansas City is led by three double-digit point scorers: graduate guard Manna Mensah, graduate guard/ forward E’Lease Stafford and junior guard Sanaa’ St. Andre.