Summit League Basketball Championships Day One Roundup

Landon Dierks, Sports Editor

SIOUX FALLS — In case you missed some of the action, here’s a quick rundown of what happened during day one of the 2020 Summit League Basketball Championships.

Women’s Quarterfinal One: No. 1 South Dakota 99, No. 8 Omaha 40

Top-seeded USD had little trouble with UNO Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 59-point win in the first quarterfinal of the 2020 Summit League Basketball Championships.

Omaha never led, as the Coyotes surged to a 64-18 halftime advantage. All told, four ‘Yotes scored in double figures, paced by 17 points, six assists and six rebounds from Ciara Duffy, who was named Summit League Player of the Year earlier in the week.

USD advances to play the winner of No. 4 Oral Roberts/No. 5 Western Illinois at noon Monday.

 

Women’s Quarterfinal Two: No. 2 South Dakota State 72, No. 7 North Dakota 43

The SDSU women shot just 29.7% from the field in the first half — 39% for the game — but pulled away from UND in the second half behind an 18-point, eight-rebound effort from Tagyn Larson.

Exceptional defense by the Jackrabbits led to 28 turnovers by the Fighting Hawks, who never were able to find an offensive rhythm, managing just 28.6% shooting in the loss.

SDSU advances to play the winner of No. 3 Denver/No. 6 North Dakota State at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

 

Men’s Quarterfinal One: No. 1 North Dakota State 71, No. 8 Denver 69

Tyson Ward scored 20 points and Vinnie Shahid chipped in 22, including the game-winning pair of free throws with under seven seconds to play, as the Bison escaped the upset and earned a semifinal berth.

Denver had three individuals score at least 17 points but came up just short of becoming the second No. 8 seed to defeat the tournament’s top seed.

NDSU advances to play the winner of No. 4 Oral Roberts/No. 5 Omaha at 6 p.m. Monday.

 

Men’s Quarterfinal Two: No. 2 South Dakota State 74, No. 7 Purdue Fort Wayne 77

Playing without Summit League Player of the Year, the second-seeded Jackrabbits needed someone else to fill the primary scoring role. Freshman Noah Freidel did just that and then some, exploding for a career-high 35 points on 11-for-20 shooting (7-for-14 from 3).

PFW, the 7-seed, countered with a balanced attack, as four of five Mastodon starters scored in double figures.

It’s the second year in a row the SDSU men did not reach the semifinals after entering as a top-two seed.

PFW advances to play the winner of No. 3 South Dakota/No. 6 North Dakota at 8:30 p.m. Monday.