Women's Basketball

Jackrabbits hold off Roos to move onto semifinals

The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota State 75, No. 7 Kansas City 61
Records: South Dakota State (25-6, 14-2 SL), Kansas City (7-23, 4-12 SL)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 2 seed South Dakota State started fast and didn’t look back, earning a 75-61 victory over No. 7 seed Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The Jackrabbits extended their conference tournament win streak to 10 games and have reached the semifinals in 16 of 18 overall appearances.

Senior Brooklyn Meyer paced SDSU with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds and five blocks. In the process, she eclipsed 2,000 career points and set a new program record for most points in a season (682). Jackrabbits senior Madison Mathiowetz added 18 points with six rebounds and four assists.

SDSU took a 17-5 edge through one quarter and led by double digits the rest of the way. The Jackrabbits made five of their first 11 attempts from three-point range.

Three Kansas City players scored in double figures. Emani Bennett and Elauni Bennett both put up 15 points, while Zaire Harrell added 11. The Roos finished with edges in second-chance points (15-8) and bench points (14-8).

KC trailed by as many as 24 before rallying to within 71-60 late in the fourth quarter after outscoring the Jacks 46-43 in the second half.

SDSU will play the winner of No. 3 seed South Dakota or No. 6 seed Denver 25 minutes after the conclusion of Saturday’s first women’s semifinal.

Turning Point
SDSU never trailed, building a 17-3 advantage late in the first quarter that included a 15-1 run. The Jackrabbits’ lead peaked at 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Inside the Box Score 
  • This was only the second Summit League tournament meeting between these two teams. The last one was March 6, 2012 when the Jackrabbits pulled out a 78-77 overtime victory in the championship game at the Sioux Falls Arena. 
  • El. Bennett also led Kansas City with nine rebounds and scored all 15 of her points in the second half, going 7-for-7 from the field.
  • Meyer has scored 138 of her 2,018 career points in 10 career Summit League Tournament games and is just the 10th player in league history to eclipse the 2,000-point plateau.
News & Notes
  • The Roos had reached the tournament semifinals in three of the previous four seasons.
  • SDSU’s conference tournament win streak includes event championships in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The program also has the only other 10-plus game winning streak in tournament history after reeling off 15 straight wins starting with its debut in 2009 and going through the 2013 title game.
  • Meyer is the reigning Summit League women’s basketball Kwik Star Peak Performer of the week. It’s her seventh such honor this season and the 13th of her career. Both are second-most in league history.

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