SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The second half of League play is here and South Dakota State will begin the home stretch as the only team remaining undefeated in League play. The Jackrabbits look to extend their winning streak to 10-straight games as they start the back half of League action.
 
The week’s schedule tips off Thursday at 7 p.m. CT with eight of our ten teams matching up. Western Illinois will travel to South Dakota while St. Thomas will meet South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D. Omaha will host Kansas City and Denver will make the trek to Tulsa, Okla. to match up against Oral Roberts.
 
North Dakota State and North Dakota will meet in Grand Forks, N.D., for an in-state rivalry matchup on Saturday with a 1 p.m. CT tip.
 
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	Oral Roberts	North Dakota State
1/21	Denver	South Dakota State
1/26	Omaha	Kansas City
1/26	South Dakota	Western Illinois
1/26	South Dakota State	St. Thomas
2/18	Western Illinois	St. Thomas

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (7-13, 3-6 SL) | @DU_WHoops
Next Up: vs. Oral Roberts (1/26; 6 p.m. MT); vs. Kansas City (1/28; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Games: vs. South Dakota State (L, 74-64); vs. South Dakota (L, 59-50)
Denver fell to 3-6 in League play after losses to South Dakota State and South Dakota ... Against the Jackrabbits, a trio of Pioneers scored in double figures ... Mikenzie Jones led all scorers with 20 points and nine rebounds ... Madelyn Atkins came off the bench for the Pioneers and added 15 points including four three-pointers ... Angelina Robles rounded out the double-figure scorers chipping in 14 points, sinking 8-for-10 free throws ... In the loss to South Dakota, Emma Smith paced the offensive effort with 14 points while also tallying five rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal ... Ally Haar was the only other Pio to reach double digits in the scoring column as she finished with 12 points and four assists ... Defensively, Makayla Minett pulled down a team-best eight rebounds and blocked four shots.
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (6-14, 2-7 SL) | @KCRoosWBB
Next Up: at Omaha (1/26; 7 p.m. CT); at Denver (1/28; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. North Dakota (W, 78-67); vs. North Dakota State (L, 75-66)
Kansas City picked up its second League win of the season with a win over North Dakota ... Five Roos reached double figures led by E’Lease Stafford’s 17 points ... Machia Mullens was dominant on both ends of the floor as she finished with a double-double of 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds ... Manna Mensah also finished with 16 points while Tamia Ugass came off the bench and chipped in a career-high 15 points of her own ... Rain Green rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points and a team-best nine assists ... In the loss to North Dakota State, Ugass came off the bench and led all scorers with 26 points to go along with seven rebounds ... Mullens was the only other Roo in double-digits as she finished with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (11-8, 4-5 SL) | @UNDwbasketball
Next Up: vs. North Dakota State (1/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Kansas City (L, 78-67); at Oral Roberts (L, 96-91)
North Dakota dropped two road games to Kansas City and Oral Roberts last week ... In the loss to the Roos, Kacie Borowicz led the Fighting Hawks with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds ... Sammiyah Hoskin was the only other player for North Dakota to finish with double-figure points ... She notched a season-best 15 points to go along with three rebounds ... Nakiyah Hurst led the defensive effort with a team-best six rebounds ... Against ORU, Borowicz paced four players with double figures as she recorded a double-double of 24 points and 12 assists as well as five steals ... Maggie Manson contributed 20 points while Claire Orth chipped in 16 of her own as well as eight rebounds and a pair of steals ... Allie McCarthy rounded out the double-figure scorers as she tallied 10 points and five rebounds in the loss.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (13-6, 7-2 SL) | @NDSUwbb
Next Up: at North Dakota (1/28; 1:05 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Oral Roberts (L, 75-53); at Kansas City (W, 75-66)
The Bison picked up their second loss of League play after they fell to Oral Roberts ... Elle Evans led the efforts for the Bison as she finished with a team-best 14 points to go along with two rebounds and two blocks ... Taylor Brown followed her efforts as she put up 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting ... Off the bench, Abby Graham rounded out the double-digit trio as she finished with 11 points ... NDSU bounced back and defeated Kansas City behind a career-high 23 points performance from Evans ... She finished the afternoon going 10-for-16 from the field while adding eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to her stat line ... Emily Behnke was the only other Bison to finish in double digits as she tallied her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
 
OMAHA MAVERICKS (9-11, 4-5 SL) | @OmahaWBB
Next Up: vs. Kansas City (1/26; 7:05 p.m. CT); vs. Oral Roberts (1/28; 2:05 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. South Dakota State (L, 68-61); vs. South Dakota (L, 70-63)
The Mavericks fell to 4-5 in League play after being bested by South Dakota State and South Dakota ...
In the seven-point loss to the Jackrabbits, Elena Pilakouta and Kennedi Grant led the Mavericks each contributing 17 points and five rebounds a piece ... On the defensive end, Grace Cave grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the loss ... Against the Coyotes, Cave led a trio of Mavericks in the scoring column finishing with a team-best 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc ... Aaliyah Stanley followed as she chipped in 16 points and a team-best four assists ... Pilakouta rounded out the double-figure scorers going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field en route to 14 points. As a squad, the Mavericks outshot the Coyotes 42.1 percent (24-for-57) to 39.7 percent (25-for-63).
 
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (8-12, 5-4 SL) | @ORUWBB
Next Up: at Denver (1/26; 7 p.m. CT); at Omaha (1/28; 2:05 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. North Dakota State (W, 75-53); vs. North Dakota (W, 96-91)
Oral Roberts pick up two home victories over North Dakota State and North Dakota to move to 5-4 in League play ... Against the Bison, Tirzah Moore put up a dominate performance of a career-high 30 points and game-best 15 rebounds ... She was 13-for-16 from the floor and blocked four shots on the night ... Hannah Cooper followed her efforts as she chipped in 16 points, four rebounds and four assists ... Delaney Nix rounded out the double figure scorers against NDSU with 10 points ... Moore carried that momentum into the game against North Dakota as she captured her second consecutive double-double … She finished with 20 points on 10-for-12 shooting and 12 rebounds ... Nix poured in 20 points of her own and went 6-for-9 from the three-point line ... Ruthie Udoumoh recorded the first triple-double of the season for any Summit League player as she finished with 19 points, a game-best 14 rebounds and 11 assists ... Ariel Walker (16) and Cooper (14) completed the double-figure scorers ... It was the first time since 2013 that all five ORU starters reached double-digits in the same game.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (7-12, 2-7 SL) | @TommieWBBall
Next Up: at South Dakota State (1/26; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota (1/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. Western Illinois (L, 77-75)
The Tommies fell to 2-7 in League play after a heartbreaking two-point loss to Western Illinois ... Maggie Negaard led the Tommies as she poured in a career and game-high 28 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the floor including going 6-for-8 from the three-point line ... She also added a team-best nine rebounds, two assists and two steals to her state line ... Jo Langbehn followed as she contributed 19 points on a 5-for-8 performance from the floor ... Jade Hill rounded out the double-digit scorers as she finished with 13 points to go along with a team-best five assists, three rebounds and a trio of steals ... As a team, the Tommies had their best shooting performance of League play going 22-for-48 (45.8 percent) from the floor and 24-for-28 (85.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (10-10, 6-3 SL) | @SDCoyotesWBB
Next Up: vs. Western Illinois (1/26; 7 p.m. CT); vs. St. Thomas (1/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Omaha (W, 70-63); at Denver (W, 59-50)
South Dakota improved to 6-3 in the League after two road wins over Omaha and Denver ... In the seven-point victory over the Mavericks, Grace Larkins dropped 24 points, a team-best nine rebounds and three assists to pace the Coyotes ... Carley Duffney followed as the only other Coyote in double figures for scoring as she poured in a season-high 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting ... Against the Pioneers, Larkins once again led the Coyotes as she finished with a near triple-double of 17 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four steals ... Duffney matched Larkins’ game-high 17 points going 6-for-10 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds ... Walker Demers completed the double-digit trio for the Coyotes with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting, seven rebounds, an assist and a block.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (16-5, 9-0 SL) | @GoJacksWBB
Next Up: vs. St. Thomas (1/26; 7 p.m.); vs. Western Illinois (1/28; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Omaha (W, 68-61); at Denver (W, 74-64)
The Jackrabbits remain undefeated in League play after picking up road victories over Omaha and Denver ... In the win over the Mavericks, Paiton Burckhard paced the Jacks with 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists ... Myah Selland and Haleigh Timmer followed close behind with 12 points apiece on identical 5-for-9 shooting performances ... Selland also added nine rebounds and a team-best four assists to her stat line ... Timmer led the efforts against the Pioneers as she poured in a season-high-tying 19 points on a 7-for-11 shooting performance ... She also added five rebounds, three assists and a steal in the victory ... Off the bench, Paige Meyer chipped in 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor, a team-best four assists and three steals ... Burckhard went 5-for-7 from the floor en route to 10 points, stole the ball three times, grabbed two boards and dished out an assist ... Selland also finished with 10 points, three rebounds and a steal in the win.
 
WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (8-12, 3-6 SL) | @WIUWBB
Next Up: at South Dakota (1/26; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State (1/28; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at St. Thomas (W, 77-75)
Western Illinois picked up its third win of League play after a last-second basket by Carla Flores secured a 77-75 victory over St. Thomas ... Anna Deets paced the Leathernecks with 21 points including going 10-for-11 from the free throw line ... She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out an assist in the win ... Addi Brownfield had an all-around afternoon as she finished with 16 points, a team-best six assist, four rebounds, four steals and a block ... Alissa Dins was the final Leatherneck to finish with double-digits in the scoring column with 11 ... Dins led the defensive effort as well as she grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, stole four balls and blocked two shots ... As a team, the Leathernecks were 50 percent (27-for-54) from the field, 40 percent (8-for-20) from the three-point line and 78.9 percent (15-for-19) from the charity stripe ... Western Illinois managed to force 23 turnovers to convert into 19 points and 10 fast break points.