The Basics
Score: No. 1 South Dakota State 87, No. 8 Omaha 67
Records: No. 1 South Dakota State (27-3, 16-0 SL), No. 8 (Omaha 14-17, 5-11 SL)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.



SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 1 South Dakota State used a second-quarter surge to claim an 87-67 victory over No. 8 seed Omaha in the second quarterfinal of the 2025 Summit League Women's Basketball Championship at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Thursday.

Junior Brooklyn Meyer led a quintet of Jackrabbits in double figures with 16 points and dished out a career-high six assists. SDSU has advanced to the semifinals in 10 of the last 11 tournaments as the squad aims for its third consecutive title. Paige Meyer and Madysen Vlastuin had a dozen points apiece, while Haleigh Timmer and Madison Mathiowetz added 11 to lead an offense that shot 58 percent from the field. 

Omaha's Katie Keitges knotted things up at 13-13 with a triple from the corner but SDSU would close the first quarter on an 8-3 stretch over the final 3:48 that provided the Jackrabbits with a 21-16 advantage.

The Jackrabbits, who were the top defensive unit in the league during the regular season, tightened up things on that end in the second quarter. After Ja Harvey made it a 23-20 contest with a layup at the 8:26 mark, SDSU would only allow one more field the rest of the quarter as they surged ahead with a 16-4 run.

Meyer and Kallie Theisen each had six points during that second quarter as the Jacks extended their lead to 39-24 by halftime. The Jacks shot 64 percent from the floor during the stanza as Meyer and Theisen combined to go 6-for-7.

A high-scoring third quarter by both teams did not yield much change in the SDSU's advantage as the Mavericks could only trim one point off to make it a 61-47 tally entering the final 10 minutes. Aaliyah Moore provided a spark of Omaha's offense, scoring 10 points in the quarter, while Paige Meyer had eight of SDSU's 22 points.

Vlastuin led a potent bench attack for the Jacks, scoring a season-high 12 points on a career-high equaling four triples. She made a pair in both the opening and closing quarters as the SDSU bench outscored the Mavericks 29-12.

Grace Cave led Omaha with 20 points, tallying 14 of those after halftime while Harvey and Moore had 17 and 12, respectively.

The Jackrabbits will take on the winner of Friday's first quarterfinal between No. 4 St. Thomas and No. 5 North Dakota during Saturday afternoon's first semifinal at 12 p.m. CT.

Turning Point
The Jackrabbits outscored Omaha 18-8 in the second quarter and closed the stanza on a 16-4 run, limiting the Mavericks to just one field goal over the closing 8:26.

Inside the Box Score

• Brooklyn Meyer and Emilee Fox each dished out a career-high six assists as the Jacks had 20 as a team on 35 made field goals.
• Cave had her 11th 20-plus point scoring game of her season and fifth in the last six games after finishing with a team-high 20.
• SDSU's bench outscored Omaha's 29-12. 

News & Notes

• SDSU has now made the semifinals in 10 of the 11 seasons with the only time the Jackrabbits failed to do so, they lost to an eighth-seeded Omaha team in the 2021 quarterfinals.
• The Jackrabbits are now 39-5 all-time in Summit League postseason play and own the most titles with 11.
• The Mavericks closed out their season with a 14-16 record and posted back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since 2016-18.