Sioux Falls, S.D. -- Kansas City is among a group of four Summit League teams that will take multiple-game winning streaks into action starting Wednesday. The Roos have reeled off three consecutive wins thanks to the emergence of freshman Emani Bennett, who is averaging 13.7 ppg since moving into the starting lineup six games ago.
Bennett equaled her season-high with 20 in KC's latest win -- a 68-60 victory over former Summit League foe Western Illinois. The Roos can stretch that streak to four when Alabama A&M pays a visit to the Sweeney Center on Thursday.
South Dakota owns the longest winning streak in the League at four, while South Dakota State and St. Thomas have both won back-to-back games. The Coyotes have Mount Marty next up on their slate, while the Jackrabbits are poised to face their third top-25 opponent of the season when they visit (21/21) Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are the top-ranked team in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, while SDSU was slotted in the No. 5 spot this week.
For the Tommies, those two wins came on the road and sophomore Amber Scalia was a big reason why, averaging 20.0 ppg in triumphs over Milwaukee and Purdue Fort Wayne. Scalia is now the top-ranked scorer in the League, averaging 17.2 ppg after scoring 4.5 ppg in 28 games as a rookie.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Wednesday, Dec. 13
Wisconsin at St. Thomas (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Mt. Marty at South Dakota (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Thursday, Dec. 14
Denver at Texas State (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. CT
Alabama A&M at Kansas City (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
USAO at Oral Roberts (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Friday, Dec. 15
Mayville State at North Dakota (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Saturday, Dec. 16
South Dakota at UT-Martin (ESPN+) | 1 p.m. CT
Wisconsin-Steven’s Point at St. Thomas (SLN) | 3 p.m. CT
Sunday, Dec. 17
South Dakota State at (21/21) Gonzaga (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. PT
Monday, Dec. 18
Omaha at Texas Southern (YT) | 5:30 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at (12/16) Kansas State (ESPN+) | 6:30 p.m. CT
Kansas Christian at Kansas City (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Tuesday, Dec. 19
Colorado Christian at Denver (SLN) | 6 p.m. MT
Wednesday, Dec. 20
Oral Roberts at Wichita State (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. CT
Bradley at South Dakota (SLN) | 6 p.m. CT
Omaha at TCU (ESPN+) | 6:30 p.m. CT
Central Michigan at North Dakota State (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Thursday, Dec. 21
Drake at North Dakota (SLN) | 12 p.m. CT
South Dakota State at Creighton (FLO) | 6 p.m. CT
St. Mary’s at Denver (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Kansas City at Missouri (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. CT
Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
# Multi-Team Event
Key: FLO (FloSports), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), SECN+ (Southeastern Conference Network Plus), SLN (Summit League Network), WDAYX (WDAY Xtra), WIU (GoLeathernecks.com/watch)
TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (2-6, 0-0 SL) | @DU_WHoops
Next Up: at Texas State (12/14; 7 p.m. CT); Colorado Christian (12/19; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at UC Irvine (L, 50-47); Stetson (W, 74-52)
The Pioneers snapped a five-game losing skid with a 22-point win over visiting Stetson in what was their first action in a week ... DU defeated the Hatters thanks to a season-high 16 makes from beyond the arc ... Emily Counsel led that charge with a career-high six trifectas on 11 attempts as she tallied a season-high 21 points ... It marked the second time Counsel has scored 20-plus in a game and first time since her freshman season in 2020-21 when she netted 26 against Oral Roberts ... Counsel has reached double figures in five of the last six for the Pioneers and has her season average up to 11.9 ppg ... Emma Smith dished out a career-high seven assists in the victory as well ... Freshman Reagan Paul reached double figures for the first time in her brief career, scoring 10 against Stetson ... Paul had just 19 total points in DU’s first seven contests as she made her second consecutive start ... DU next plays at Texas State.
KANSAS CITY ROOS (5-5, 0-0 SL) | @KCRoosWBB
Next Up: Alabama A&M (12/14; 7 p.m. CT); Kansas Christian (12/18; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Arkansas State (W, 62-57); Bellevue (W, 84-34); Western Illinois (W, 68-60)
Kansas City has reeled off three consecutive wins to get back to the .500 mark ... The Roos latest win was a 68-60 triumph over former Summit League foe Western Illinois ... Freshman Emani Bennett continued her strong play, scoring a game-high 20 points to equal her season-high ... Bennett has reached double figures in five of the last six games since being inserted into the starting lineup ... In those half-dozen games, Bennett is averaging 13.7 ppg ... Junior Tamia Ugass came off the bench to contribute a season-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooing from the floor ... Ugass is one of nine Roos with at least three starts on the campaign ... KC is limiting opponents to 61.7 ppg (2nd) and 37.6 percent field goal shooting (3rd), which are among the top three for Summit League programs ... The Roos remain home to face Alabama A&M and Kansas Christian.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (3-6, 0-0 SL) | @UNDwbasketball
Next Up: Mayville State (12/15; 7 p.m. CT); Drake (12/21; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Eastern Michigan (W, 64-56); at Eastern Illinois (L, 67-55)
The Fighting Hawks dropped a 67-55 decision at Eastern Illinois where freshman Nevaeh Ferrara Horne paced the team with a season-high 13 off the bench ... It was the first double-digit scoring outing for the 6-foot-2 forward, who had scored a total of 20 points in her first eight collegiate appearances ... Kiera Pemberton was the only other UND player to reach double figures with 11 as her squad played without leading scorer Kacie Borowicz for the third consecutive game ... Pemberton also pulled down eight rebounds and now is averaging 6.7 rpg, which is good for seventh among Summit League players ... The Fighting Hawks will close out the pre-Christmas slate with back-to-back home games against Mayville State and a Drake team ranked No. 15 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (4-6, 0-0 SL) | @NDSUwbb
Next Up: Central Michigan (12/20; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota* (12/29; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Drake (L, 77-67); at Iowa State (L, 89-59)
The Bison will look to bounce back from an 0-2 swing through the state of Iowa where they fell at Drake and Iowa State ... Senior Heaven Hamling led NDSU in scoring in both tilts, going for 15 against the Bulldogs and scoring a game-high 18 against the Cyclones to push her double-digit scoring streak to nine consecutive games ... Hamling also came up with six steals in those contests and is one of four Summit League players with 19 or more on the season (1.9/g) ... Elle Evans contributed 10 points in those two contests and shares the team lead with Hamling in double-digit scoring games at nine ... The Bison are the top 3-point shooting squad among Summit League teams, knocking down 35.7 percent of their attempts ... Hamling’s 41.3 percentage is tops among all League players ... NDSU returns home looking to get back in the win column against Central Michigan.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (3-6, 0-0 SL) | @OmahaWBB
Next Up: at Texas Southern (12/18; 5:30 p.m. CT); at TCU (12/20; 6:30 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: UIC (L, 95-89); at Western Illinois (L, 78-75); Peru State (W, 92-70)
Five Omaha players reached double figures as the Mavericks rolled to a 92-70 win over Peru State ... The top two scorers came off the bench as junior Morgann Gardner scored a career-high 19 points and Aaliyah Stanley chipped in with 18 to lead that quintet ... Gardner had tallied just 13 points in four previous appearances this season as she reached double figures for the second time in her career ... Stanley started three of Omaha’s first five games but has come off the bench exclusively over the past four, averaging 18.0 ppg during that span ... Junior Grace Cave added 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to record the first double-double of her career and first for a Maverick this season ... The Mavericks take to the road to close out play before Christmas with a two-game swing through the Lone Star State to face Texas Southern and TCU.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (5-3, 0-0 SL) | @ORUWBB
Next Up: USAO (12/14; 7 p.m. CT); at (12/16) Kansas State (12/18; 6:30 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: (10/11) Texas (L, 112-74); Oklahoma Wesleyan (W, 112-48)
A game after surrending 112 points in a loss at (10/11) Texas, the Golden Eagles responded by scoring 112 points of their own in a rout of Oklahoma Wesleyan ... Jalei Oglesby led a quintet of double-figure scorers for ORU with a career-high 29 points ... Oglesby did her damage by making 14-of-18 shots from the floor (77.8) as the Golden Eagles pushed their scoring average to 84.4 ppg, which is tops among Summit League teams ... ORU is also the only team with five players averaging double figures ... Newcomer Taleyah Jones tops that group with a 16.1 ppg, while Oglesby is second at 14.8 ppg ... Hannah Cooper (12.3 ppg), Emily Robinson (12.2 ppg) and Ruthie Udoumoh (12.1 ppg) round out the high-scoring outfit ... ORU plays USAO Thursday at home before traveling to K-State for a matchup with the (12/16) Wildcats.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (5-5, 0-0 SL) | @TommieWBBall
Next Up: Wisconsin (12/13; 7 p.m. CT); Wisconsin-Stevens Point (12/16; 3 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Milwaukee (W, 67-65); at Purdue Fort Wayne (W, 64-59)
The Tommies won back-to-back road games to push their overall record to the .500 mark ... Amber Scalia continued her sophomore scoring surge with 24 points against the Panthers and 16 more against the Mastadons ... Those 40 combined points now has her leading all Summit League scorers with a 17.2 ppg average ... Scalia now has double digits in all 10 of the Tommies’ games this season after reaching that plateau three times in 28 contests as a rookie last season ... Junior Jade Hill is fifth among League players at 14.9 ppg and contributed 12 points in each of those road wins ... Jo Langbehn also reached double figures in the road triumphs and has her season average up to 11.4 ppg ... UST returns home from a three-game road swing to face Big 10-foe Wisconsin at Schoenecker Arena ... The Badgers will be the second Power-5 program to visit St. Paul in the last two weeks (Iowa State).
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (7-3, 0-0 SL) | @SDCoyotesWBB
Next Up: Mount Marty (12/13; 7 p.m. CT); at UT Martin (12/16; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Loyola Marymount (W, 78-73; OT); Dickinson State (W, 108-46)
The Coyotes continued their winning ways with a 108-46 win over Dickinson State to push their winning streak to four games ... USD’s seven overall wins are tops among all Summit League teams in non-conference play ... Natalie Mazurek led five USD players in double figures with a career-high 18 points off the bench ... Grace Larkins piled up a nice stat line in just 16 minutes of play, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulling down seven rebounds to go with four assists ... Carley Duffney added 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor in a game that saw the Coyotes shoot 55.6 percent as a team ... The Coyotes lead all Summit League teams with a 47.0 percent shooting clip and also paces the League with a 10.6-plus scoring margin ... USD remains at home to face Mount Marty Wednesday before traveling to play at UT Martin Saturday.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (6-3, 0-0 SL) | @GoJacksWBB
Next Up: at Gonzaga (12/17; 6 p.m. PT); at Creighton (12/21; 6 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Northern Iowa (W, 78-59); Dordt (W, 66-54)
The Jackrabbits moved to 6-3 on the season with back-to-back wins with the first of those coming at Northern Iowa in impressive fashion ... Paige Meyer scored 23 points for the second consecutive game as SDSU defeated the Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorites by 19 ... Brooklyn Meyer registered back-to-back double-doubles in those victories going for 11 points and 10 boards against the Panthers and backing that up with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Dordt, who was the No. 2 ranked team at the NAIA level entering the contest ... Sophomore Madison Mathiowetz had the two best scoring games of her career in those triumphs, putting up 16 at UNI before leading the Jackrabbits with a career-high 21 against the Defenders ... Mathiowetz has reached double figures in four consecutive games after achieving that feat just once in SDSU’s first five games ... She is averaging 15.0 ppg during that stretch and has her season average up to 10.0 ppg ... The Jackrabbits next play at Gonzaga ... The Bulldogs are the top-ranked team in the CollegeInsider.som Mid-Major Top 25 and came in No. 21 in both of the latest Associate Press and USA Today/WBCA Coaches’ polls.
#SUMMITWBB
