SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Eleven days into the new year and South Dakota State stands alone atop the League standings. The Jackrabbits defeated previously undefeated North Dakota State, 94-63, to remain undefeated thus far in League play. They look to capitalize on the momentum this week as they host in-state rival South Dakota Saturday.
 
This week’s action gets underway Thursday with the first game tipping off at 6 p.m. CT at Western Illinois as the Leathernecks host Oral Roberts. This week will also feature a rescheduled game from earlier this season due to a winter storm that hit Denver and a large portion of the country. Denver’s game against Omaha from Dec. 21 has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. CT.
 
FanMaker
Be on the lookout in the PDF weekly notebook for a promo code offer to earn 200 reward points within the Fan Rewards section of the Summit League app! If you don't have the free app, download now at thesummitleague.org/app.
 
#BeatType1
The New Year brought Summit League Basketball play into the primary focus of the league’s ten men’s and women’s programs, but 2023 also brings another important matter back into their focus: type 1 diabetes. All 20 programs will designate a game throughout January to team up with Sanford Health and bring awareness to the disease that more than 1.25 million Americans are currently battling.
 
#BeatType1 Games

Date	Host	Opponents
1/7	Kansas City	Oral Roberts
1/12	North Dakota	Omaha
1/12	Western Illinois	Oral Roberts
1/14	North Dakota State	Omaha
1/14	St. Thomas	Oral Roberts
1/19	Denver	South Dakota
1/19	Oral Roberts	North Dakota State
1/26	Omaha	Kansas City
1/26	South Dakota	Western Illinois
1/26	South Dakota State	St. Thomas

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (7-8, 3-1 SL) | @DU_WHoops
Next Up: at North Dakota State (1/12; 6 p.m. MT); at North Dakota (1/14; 12 p.m. MT)
Previous Games: vs. St. Thomas (W, 66-60); vs. Western Illinois (W, 70-58)
With two home wins over St. Thomas and Western Illinois, Denver is off to a 3-1 start in League play for the first time since 2018-19 ... Emma Smith paced the efforts for the Pioneers on the week averaging 18.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.5 apg and 1.0 spg ... Against St. Thomas, three Pioneers reached double figures in the scoring column led by Ally Haar and Smith ... Haar finished with 15 points and four assists while Smith notched 15 points, five assists and two steals ... Mikayla Brandon rounded out the double-digit scorers as she chipped in 14 points, six rebounds and four assists ... Double-doubles from Smith and Brandon led the Pioneers in the win over WIU ... Smith put together her first-career double-double as she finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds ... Brandon tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds ... Haar was the only other Pioneer to finish in double figures as she contributed 18 points in the win.
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (5-11, 1-4 SL) | @KCRoosWBB
Next Up: at St. Thomas (1/12; 7 p.m. CT); at Western Illinois (1/14; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. Oral Roberts (W, 65-54)
The Roos picked up their first League victory with a home win over Oral Roberts ... Rain Green led the offensive efforts as she finished with 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and four assists ... E’Lease Stafford followed with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals in the win ... Manna Mensah secured a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Roos, the first double-double by a Roos since Kiara Bradley and Paige Bradford both recorded one in the Summit League quarterfinals against North Dakota State on Mar. 6, 2022 ... As a squad, the Roos held the Golden Eagles to a 54-point showing, the lowest scoring output on the season ... Ahead of the game, Oral Roberts averaged 75.3 points per game.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (9-6, 2-3 SL) | @UNDwbasketball
Next Up: vs. Omaha (1/12; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Denver (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at South Dakota (L, 79-67); at South Dakota State (L, 105-72)
North Dakota dropped games to South Dakota and South Dakota State to fall to 2-3 in League play ... Kacie Borowicz and Juliet Gordon led the efforts against the Coyotes ... Borowicz finished a team-best 18 points to go along with eight rebounds ... Gordon finished with 16 points including going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line ... She also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a career-best six assists ... In the loss to the Jackrabbits, Borowicz, for the 23rd straight game, led the Fighting Hawks as she finished with 15 points and five assists ... Claire Orth was the only other Fighting Hawk to finish in double figures against South Dakota State ... Orth finished with 10 points to go along with three rebounds, an assist and a steal in the loss.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (10-5, 4-1 SL) | @NDSUwbb
Next Up: vs. Denver (1/12; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Omaha (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at South Dakota State (L, 94-63); at South Dakota (W, 79-76)
North Dakota State suffered its first League loss of the season on the road at South Dakota State before traveling to South Dakota and beating the Coyotes ... The win over the Coyotes snapped a 13-game losing skid against South Dakota dating back to 2017 ... It also marked the first win for NDSU at South Dakota since 2013 and snapped the Coyotes’ 43-game win streak against League opponents at home dating back to the 2016-17 season ... In the loss to the Jackrabbits, Abby Graham led the offensive effort as the only Bison to finish in double figures in the scoring column ... She finished with a season-best 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field ... On the defensive end, Taylor Brown pulled down a team-best seven rebounds to go along with eight points and four assists ... Heaven Hamling paced the Bison against the Coyotes with a team-high 22 points, a season-best seven rebounds and six assists ... Brown also finished with double digits in the scoring column as she finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists... Elle Evans rounded out the double-figure scorers against USD as she notched 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting from behind the arc.
 
OMAHA MAVERICKS (8-7, 3-1 SL) | @OmahaWBB
Next Up: at North Dakota (1/12; 7 p.m. CT); at North Dakota State (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. Western Illinois (W, 76-64); vs. St. Thomas (W, 80-77; OT)
The Mavericks are riding a three-game win streak after picking up home wins over Western Illinois and St. Thomas ... Aaliyah Stanley led the Mavericks over the week with 20.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.0 spg and 1.0 apg through two games ... Against the Leathernecks, Stanley led the team with 21 points including three triples ... She also added six rebounds, three steals and an assist to her stat line ... Grace Cave and Sam Mitchell followed Stanley finishing with 12 points apiece ... Cave also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out three assists while Mitchell tossed out four steals ... In the overtime win against St. Thomas, Stanley led four Mavericks in double-figure scoring as she scored 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting from behind the three-point line ... Cave followed with 16 points and four assists and Elena Pilakouta finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in the win ... Kennedi Grant rounded out the double-digit scorers for Omaha as she finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (5-11, 2-3 SL) | @ORUWBB
Next Up: at Western Illinois (1/12; 6 p.m. CT); at St. Thomas (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Kansas City (L, 65-54)
Oral Roberts fell to 2-3 in League play after a road loss to Kansas City ... Hannah Cooper and Ruthie Udoumoh led the Golden Eagles in the loss both finishing with 12 points and six rebounds apiece ... Cooper also finished with four assists and four steals while Udoumoh notched three steals ... Defensively, Ariel Walker and Nena Taylor also pulled down a team-high-tying six rebounds in the loss ... As a squad, ORU totaled 12 steals, led by Cooper and Walker’s four each ... The Golden Eagles totaled a season-best 20 offensive rebounds and registered 19 second-chance points.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (5-11, 0-6 SL) | @TommieWBBall
Next Up: vs. Kansas City (1/12; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Oral Roberts (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Denver (L, 66-60); at Omaha (L, 80-77; OT)
The Tommies dropped to 0-6 in League play after dropping two close road games to Denver and Omaha ... In the six-point loss to Denver, Maggie Negaard and Sammy Opichka led the efforts as the only Tommies to finish with double-figures in the scoring column ... Negaard finished with a then career-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and three three-pointers ... Opichka finished with 11 points to go along with three rebounds and a pair of assists ... In the tough three-point overtime loss to Omaha, four Tommies finished in double digits led by Negaard’s career-high 19 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds ... Jade Hill followed Negaard with 16 points and a team-best six assists ... Jordyn Glynn filled the stat sheet as she notched 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in the loss ... Jo Langbehn rounded out the double-digit scorers as she finished with 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field as well as seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (8-9, 4-2 SL) | @SDCoyotesWBB
Next Up: at South Dakota State (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. North Dakota (W, 79-67); vs. North Dakota State (L, 79-76)
South Dakota moved to 4-2 in League play after splitting the week’s competition ... At home, the Coyotes beat North Dakota but lost to North Dakota State ... Five Coyotes finished in double figures for points against the Fighting Hawks led by Grace Larkins game-high 21 points ... Larkins also finished with five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block ... Alexi Hempe had 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds ... Nicole Avila-Ambrosi and Carley Duffney finished with 12 point apiece while Avila-Ambrosi added a game-high 7 steals, six assists, two blocks and an assist to the stat sheet ... Macy Guebert rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points to go along four assists, three rebounds and a steal ... In the three-point loss to the Bison, Larkins finished just shy of a triple double as she recorded 30 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the loss ... Duffney was the only other Coyote to finish with double-figure points for South Dakota as she ended the game with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting to go along with three rebounds ... The loss to the Bison snapped a 43-game home win streak against League foes.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (13-5, 6-0 SL) | @GoJacksWBB
Next Up: vs. South Dakota (1/14; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. North Dakota State (W, 94-63); vs. North Dakota (W, 105-72)
The Jackrabbits remain undefeated in League play after defeating North Dakota State and North Dakota at home ... In the 31-point victory over the Bison, Myah Selland packed the stat sheet as she led the Jackrabbits with 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block while drawing seven fouls ... Paiton Burckhard followed Selland’s lead as she finished with 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting, two rebounds and a pair of assists ... Paige Meyer secured 13 points after going 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from behind the three-point line ... Haleigh Timmer rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, three rebounds, three steals and an assist ... Selland carried the momentum in the game against North Dakota ... The redshirt senior dropped a career-high-tying 30 points on 10-for-12 shooting with seven three-pointers ... Burckhard shot 8-for-10 from the floor good for 19 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks ... Timmer contributed 15 of her own points to go along with five assists and three rebounds ... Dru Gylten completed the double-digit scorers for the Jacks as she chipped in 12 points, six assists and four rebounds in the 33-point victory.
 
WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (6-11, 1-5 SL) | @WIUWBB
Next Up: vs. Oral Roberts (1/12; 6 p.m. CT); vs. Kansas City (1/14; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Omaha (L, 76-54); at Denver (L, 70-58)
Western Illinois fell to 1-5 in League play after dropping two road games to Omaha and Denver ... In the loss to Omaha, Anna Deets led a duo of Leatherneck to double-digit scoring efforts ... She notched her first career double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds in the loss ... Mallory McDermott was the only other Leatherneck with double-figures in the scoring column as she came off the bench and recorded 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor ... Against Denver, McDermott was once again one of two for Western Illinois to finish with double-digit scoring efforts ... She led the squad with 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting and a career-high-tying six rebounds ... Jada Thorpe came off the bench and chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, a steal and an assist in the loss ... The bench accounted for 33 of WIU’s 58 points ... As a team, the Leathernecks only committed five turnovers compared to the Pioneers’ 16 which in turn converted to 12 points off turnovers, 13 on the fast break and 28 points in the paint.