Summit League Tickets Punched
The Summit League Basketball Championships went through Sioux Falls last week from March 4-8, with South Dakota State earning the auto-bid to the big dance for the women and North Dakota State earning the bid for the men.
South Dakota faced Denver in the quarterfinals on the women’s side, defeating the Pioneers 60-51 to advance to the semifinals. Seniors Angelina Robles and Patience Williams led USD. Robles had 21 points and three steals, while Williams scored 16 points and eight rebounds.
Women’s Basketball Head Coach Carrie Eighmey gave credit to her team’s defense for getting them the win against Denver.
“Super proud of our defense, I thought that really set the tone from the start of the game,” Eighmey said.
Later the men’s team played Omaha, losing 76-62. South Dakota trailed by three points at halftime. The second half got physical, with four technical fouls being called. First, a double tech was called with one on freshman Vince Buzelis for USD and senior Valentino Simon for UNO after a block by Simon, and words were exchanged between the two players.
At the time of the double tech, the Mavericks led 43-41 with just under 12 minutes to play in the second half. USD took the lead after a three from junior Jordan Crawford with 11:06 left to play. It was the only lead that South Dakota held in the entire game.
Omaha senior Ja’Sean Glover hit six free throws in a row for the Mavericks after the three by USD’s Crawford. Omaha pulled out to a double digit lead near the end before senior Tony Osburn hit a free throw with 45 seconds left to make the lead for UNO 14 points.
South Dakota made one last attempt after the free throw by Osburn, but missed four shots in one possession. Then a second double tech was called after junior Paul Djobet went for a dunk with 11 seconds left while UNO was up 14. Buzelis made contact with Djobet on the way to the dunk. Both players would be removed from the game because of fouling out.
Buzelis led South Dakota with 16 points and 12 rebounds, the first double-double of his career.
Head coach Eric Peterson talked about the number of players forced to sit on the bench for South Dakota with injuries by the end of the season and spoke to what it meant for the team to finish as the four seed in the Summit League.
“Nobody has faced the adversity this team has faced,” Peterson said.
The women’s team then played South Dakota State in the semifinal, falling 74-59. The battle of South Dakota wasn’t close previously in Vermillion or Brookings, as both teams won by over 20.
It was a battle of seniors between Brooklyn Meyer and Madison Mathiowetz for South Dakota State, scoring 47 combined, and senior Angelina Robles and junior Molly Joyce for USD, scoring 35 together.
Robles spoke on how the team came together over the offseason, with only two players from last year’s roster staying in the program in year two under Eighmey.
“We’ve got a lot of love and respect for each other, and when you have that, you’re gonna go far,” Robles said.
The Coyotes women’s team finished the season 23-9 and 12-4 in conference play, ranked third in the Summit League, after 11-20 and 5-11 last year in Eighmey’s first year for the Coyotes. The men’s team finished 16-16 and 8-8 in conference play in year four under Peterson.
Photo Credits: Sydney Kolln
