South Dakota vying for NCCA Tournament berth against Denver

One win.

That’s what separates the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team from their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

The Coyote women needed a day of dramatics and a day of revenge to be on the verge of their chance at one shining March Madness moment, and the only thing standing in the way is the Denver Pioneers.

The No. 4 Coyotes and No. 6 seed Pioneers will tipoff at 1 p.m.  at the Sioux Falls Arena for the Summit League Tournament crown.

Who are the Denver Pioneers?

• The 2013-14 season marked the first of eligibility for Denver in the Summit League. This is their third conference in three years, previous conferences being the Western Athletic Conference and Sun Belt Conference.
• Offensively, Denver is a very spread basketball team. The Pioneers have four players averaging 9.3 points per game or higher and no player above 12.7 ppg. The team averages 15 assists per game in Summit League play.
• Denver head coach Kerry Cremeans is in her second season as Pioneer head coach. Cremeans graduated and played basketball at the University of Florida. She also has previously coached at Kentucky, Purdue, Florida and Auburn.

The matchup

• In a No. 4 seed versus No. 6 seed matchup where few would have predicted and even less would have bet on, both teams had to win semifinal games against teams they lost to twice by double digits in the regular season. In fact, USD lost to their semifinal opponent South Dakota State by 19 and 11 in the regular season before defeating SDSU 72-58 Monday. Denver lost to IUPUI by 16 and 13 in the regular season before their overtime semifinal victory.
• USD and Denver split in the regular season with both teams winning at home in conference play. Denver’s 91-84 victory Jan. 12 saw the Pioneers shoot 51.7% from the field. In USD’s 88-67 victory on Feb. 7, four Coyotes scored 14 points or more.
• Some strange facts: USD dominated the rebound category in a losing effort in Denver, winning the battle 45-29 and scoring 18 second chance points.
• Yesterday’s semifinal featured the even offense Denver possesses. The Pioneers had four players with 12 points or more: Theresa Wirth, Kailey Edwards, Paige Bradley and Jordan Johnston. The team also went 32-for-40, 80 percent from the free throw line.
• After three consecutive games of allowing at least 87 points to opponents, the USD women shut the top scoring team in the Summit League to 58 points and 31.5% from the field.

Historical context

• In only their second year of  NCAA Division 1 postseason eligibility, a win would guarantee USD’s first appearance in the national tournament. Despite being their first full season in the Summit League, Denver made one previous appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2001, where they lost first round to Virginia Tech.
• For the first time in six seasons, the Summit League will be represented by a team that’s not the SDSU Jackrabbits. The five-year reign ended with Monday’s loss and was SDSU’s first loss in the Summit League tournament. The last team to represent the Summit League in the NCAA tournament was Oral Roberts in 2008.
• Last year, USD women fell to SDSU in the Summit League final 56-53. It was USD head coach Amy William’s first year on the job.