2 days Ago By Matt Zimmer
SIOUX FALLS — The Summit League tournament opened in earnest on Thursday, with the USD Coyote and South Dakota State women taking the floor following Wednesday night's 'play-in' games, and a crowd of 7,195 was treated to a pair of 20-point blowouts. No. 2 seed Oral Roberts hammered USD 70-50, while the top-seeded and 24th-ranked Jackrabbits pulled away late for an 87-67 win over 8th-seeded Omaha.
ADVERTISEMENT For USD, the loss marked the end of Grace Larkins' record-setting career, and the official beginning of the post-Larkins era under coach Carrie Eighmey. For SDSU, the win came in utterly business-like fashion, as the Jacks were efficiently calm and collected, using an uncommonly balanced attack to turn back an Omaha squad that was overmatched but unwilling to concede anything. The Jacks had five players score in double figures and three more scored at least seven points.
They shot 58 percent from the floor, were +10 on the glass and outscored the Mavericks 50-28 in the paint. Junior post Brooklyn Meyer had 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and dished six assists as the Mavs closed in on her inside. Omaha showed no signs of being intimidated and played hard for 40 minutes, sparked by senior Grace Cave's 20 points and gritty leadership.
They were still within 11 just before the end of the third quarter. But that was as close as they got. In other words, this was an ideal start to the tournament for the Jacks.
The Mavs were good enough and played hard enough to require a strong SDSU effort — at no point were the favorites able to coast. But they still won comfortably, doing the things we're used to seeing them do, setting the tone for the rest of the tournament. "We wanted to come out and play in a way similar to what we've done all year," said coach Aaron Johnston.
"There wasn't any change or adjustment, it was just try to do all the things we've done all year and try to do them at a little bit higher level, and I thought we did a good job of that." ADVERTISEMENT On Saturday the Jacks will face the winner of 4th-seeded St. Thomas and 5th-seeded North Dakota.
SDSU swept both those teams in the regular season (obviously, as they've gone undefeated in league play three straight years), though the Tommies did threaten SDSU in their meeting in St. Paul. Every non-freshman on this roster has been here before; been to the NCAA tournament, celebrated a Summit League tournament title, knows what it takes to accomplish those goals.
For someone to beat them will require taking the Jacks out of their comfort zone, something that's hard to do, and even harder after they've opened the tournament with a performance like this one. "I feel like we played well as a team," Meyer said. "We played well together and found the open person and I think that's when we're at our best.
" Oral Roberts still has to get past the winner of Friday's 3/6 matchup between North Dakota State and Kansas City, but assuming they do, they look as capable of seriously challenging the Jackrabbits as any team since Dawn Plitzuweit was still in this conference. The Eagles ran roughshod over the Coyotes in Thursday's early game, leading by as many as 29 points in an eventual 70-50 win. The Eagles closed the third quarter on a 19-0 run, outrebounded USD 44-32, committed just five turnovers and got 18 points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes from Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year Jalei Oglesby.
It was a dominant opening round performance, the kind of win that sends a message to the rest of the league, and specifically, South Dakota State: We're here to win this thing, not just hand the trophy over to the heavily-favored Jacks. ADVERTISEMENT When asked if she thinks Oral Roberts can realistically win this tournament, USD's Eighmey said: "I do, I do. Offensively they're extremely good.
I think defensively they've grown a lot over the course of the season. Early in the year I thought that's what they'd need to really improve in if they wanted to make a run at the championship, but it has improved and they obviously have the athleticism to turn you over. If they turn you over in transition they're playing really fast then and getting a lot of possessions and easy opportunities.
" As for the Coyotes, they finish their first year under Eighmey at 11-20, a disappointing way for Grace Larkins, one of the best in Summit League history, to go out. The do-everything senior gave a vintage performance in her last game as a Coyote, scoring 24 points to go with 13 rebounds and five assists. She scored all 11 of her team's first quarter points, somewhat of a microcosm for her and the Coyotes' season.
Larkins was Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year as a freshman on the USD team that reached the Sweet 16, but while she took her individual game to another level over the next three seasons, the wins dried up after Plitzuweit's departure. Larkins stayed loyal, however, and got emotional in the postgame press conference Thursday talking about her career in red. "It's just a testament to the University of South Dakota," said the Altoon, Iowa, native.
"I got there my freshman year and it was home for me. The community there is unmatched. The fun teammates, every teammate I've had loves me so well.
It's really hard to describe if you haven't been there, but it's really special." As a rookie coach, Eighmey had little choice but to try to squeeze everything she could out of Larkins this year, and will now set about rebuilding the program with her own players. Coyote fans who remember the Plitzuweit era are no doubt growing impatient, but Eighmey deserves some time.
She built Hastings into an NAIA contender in the highly competitive Great Plains Athletic Conference and turned Nebraska-Kearney into a Division II NCAA tournament regular as members of the MIAA. Eighmey is well aware of the recent history of the USD women's program and the expectation to return to that level, and she's not shying away from it. That in itself should encourage Coyote fans.
In the meantime, Larkins officially takes her place alongside Nicole Seekamp, Hannah Sjerven, Chloe Lamb and others on the short list of the greatest Coyotes of the Division I era. ADVERTISEMENT "Grace is a special player," said ORU coach Kelsi Musick. "If the ball's in her hands there's a pretty good chance she's gonna make something happen.
She's definitely one of the best players in the league and I have the utmost respect for her. Kudos to her to choose to stay at South Dakota and finish her career there.".
