2023–24 Summit League women's basketball season

2023–24 Summit League women's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams9
TV partner(s)Summit League Network, CBS Sports Network
Regular season
Regular season championSouth Dakota State
Season MVPBrooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Summit League tournament
ChampionsSouth Dakota State
  Runners-upNorth Dakota State
Tournament MVPPaige Meyer, South Dakota State
Summit League women's basketball seasons
2023–24 Summit League women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
South Dakota State † 16 – 0   1.000 27 – 6   .818
North Dakota State 13 – 3   .813 22 – 12   .647
Oral Roberts 11 – 5   .688 21 – 11   .656
South Dakota 9 – 7   .563 23 – 13   .639
St. Thomas* 7 – 9   .438 15 – 16   .484
North Dakota 5 – 11   .313 9 – 21   .300
Denver 5 – 11   .313 8 – 22   .267
Kansas City 3 – 13   .188 12 – 20   .375
Omaha 3 – 13   .188 8 – 23   .258
* Ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division III
† 2024 Summit League tournament winner

The 2023–24 Summit League women's basketball season began non-conference play on November 6, 2023. Conference play started on December 29, 2023. This was the seventeenth season of women's basketball play under the Summit League name and the forty-second overall for the conference.
The Summit League tournament took place from March 8–12, 2024. South Dakota State won the tournament, beating North Dakota State in the tournament final, and advanced to the NCAA tournament. North Dakota State, Oral Roberts, and South Dakota played in the 2024 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

Conference changes

Just after the conclusion of the Spring regular season, Western Illinois announced they would be leaving the Summit League on July 1, 2023, and joining the Ohio Valley Conference in all sports except men's soccer (which will join the OVC the following fall). The Leathernecks were the only remaining charter member of the Mid-Continent Conference.[1]

Preseason

The preseason Summit League women's basketball poll was released on October 10, 2023.[2]

Preseason poll

First place votes in parentheses

  1. South Dakota State (27) – 577
  2. North Dakota State (5) – 526
  3. South Dakota (2) – 485
  4. North Dakota – 434
  5. Oral Roberts (1) – 357
  6. Omaha – 263
  7. Denver (1) – 233
  8. St. Thomas – 203
  9. Kansas City – 174

Preseason awards

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Kacie Borowicz, North Dakota
Preseason All-Summit League First Team Hannah Cooper, Oral Roberts
Elle Evans, North Dakota State
Heaven Hamling, North Dakota State
Grace Larkins, South Dakota
Paige Meyer, South Dakota State
Preseason All-Summit League Second Team Carley Duffney, South Dakota
Makayla Minett, Denver
Tori Nelson, South Dakota State
Emma Smith, Denver
Ruthie Udoumoh, Oral Roberts

Regular season

Records against other conferences

2023–24 records against non-conference foes as of January 6, 2024:

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll): Summit League teams in Bold

Date Visitor Home Site Score Conference record Ref
Nov 6 No. 22 Creighton North Dakota State† Sanford Pentagon ● Sioux Falls, SD L 52–75 0–1 [3]
Nov 10 South Dakota No. 22 Creighton D. J. Sokol Arena ● Omaha, NE L 55–81 0–2 [4]
Nov 20 South Dakota State No. 1 South Carolina Colonial Life Arena ● Columbia, SC L 38–78 0–3 [5]
Nov 29 Oral Roberts No. 10 Texas Moody Center ● Austin, TX L 74–112 0–4 [6]
Dec 5 No. 21 Washington State South Dakota State Frost Arena ● Brookings, SD L 64–69 0–5 [7]
Dec 17 South Dakota State No. 21 Gonzaga McCarthey Athletic Center ● Spokane, WA L 58–83 0–6 [8]
Dec 18 Oral Roberts No. 12 Kansas State Bramlage Coliseum ● Manhattan, KS L 59–102 0–7 [9]
Dec 20 Omaha No. 25 TCU Schollmaier Arena ● Fort Worth, TX L 56–96 0–8 [10]
Dec 21 South Dakota State No. 20 Creighton D. J. Sokol Arena ● Omaha, NE L 46–58 0–8 [11]
Mar 23 South Dakota State No. 21 Utah†^ McCarthey Athletic Center ● Spokane, WA L 54–68 0–9 [12]

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll when the game was played, not current or final ranking

† denotes game was played on neutral site
^ denotes NCAA tournament game

Conference matrix

The matrix represents head-to-head matchups within the conference.[13]

  Denver Kansas City North Dakota North Dakota State Omaha Oral Roberts St. Thomas South Dakota South Dakota State
vs. Denver – 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. Kansas City 2–0 – 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. North Dakota 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. North Dakota State 0–2 0–2 0–2 – 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 2–0
vs. Omaha 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 – 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. Oral Roberts 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 – 1–1 0–2 2–0
vs. St. Thomas 1–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 2–0 2–0
vs. South Dakota 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 – 2–0
vs. South Dakota State 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 –
Total 5–11 3–13 5–11 13–3 3–13 11–5 7–9 9–7 16–0

As of March 2, 2024

Points scored

Team For Against Difference
Denver 1931 2090 –159
Kansas City 2064 2111 –47
North Dakota 2006 2297 –291
North Dakota State 2565 2328 +237
Omaha 2242 2516 –274
Oral Roberts 2628 2413 +215
St. Thomas 2103 2206 –103
South Dakota 2551 2326 +225
South Dakota State 2428 1985 +443

Through March 30, 2024[14]

National Television Games

Before the 2023-24 season began, the Summit League announced a new media deal with CBS Sports Network that would show up to 12 regular season games (6 guaranteed men's games) on the network, as well as moving the league's tournament final games to CBSSN. The women's tournament semifinal games will also be broadcast on CBSSN. On October 18, 2023, the Summit League and CBS Sports Network announced the league's 2023-24 slate of games to appear on the network throughout the conference season.[15] Those games and any others that league members will play are listed here.

Summit League members in bold

Date
Time (CT) 		Road Team Home Team Final Score Network
November 20, 2023
1 PM 		South Dakota Arizona 52–61 ESPNU
December 31, 2023
12 PM 		South Dakota State North Dakota SDSU 74–53 CBSSN
January 28, 2024
3 PM 		Oral Roberts South Dakota State SDSU 96–80 CBSSN

Home attendance

Team Arena Capacity Total Games Average Attendance Attendance High Total Attendance % of Capacity
Denver Hamilton Gymnasium 2,500 15 366 615
Nov 14 vs. Wyoming 		5,495 14.7%
Kansas City Swinney Recreation Center 1,500 16 559 1,203
Nov 6 vs. Bradley 		8,959 37.3%
North Dakota Betty Engelstad Sioux Center 3,300 15 1,414 2,913
Feb 3 vs. North Dakota St 		21,221 42.9%
North Dakota State Scheels Center 5,460 13 979 2,502
Feb 24 vs. North Dakota 		12,736 17.9%
Omaha Baxter Arena 7,898 12 461 705
Dec 31 vs. South Dakota 		5,538 5.8%
Oral Roberts Mabee Center 10,154 14 1,819 6,358
Nov 9 vs. Friends 		25,475 17.9%
St. Thomas Schoenecker Arena 1,800 14 530 979
Nov 29 vs. Iowa State 		7,426 29.5%
South Dakota Sanford Coyote Sports Center 6,000 15 1,779 3,316
Feb 3 vs. South Dakota St 		26,696 29.6%
South Dakota State Frost Arena 6,500 14 2,088 3,768
Mar 2 vs. North Dakota St 		29,237 32.1%

Bold - Exceed capacity
As of March 2, 2024
Does not include exhibition games

Head coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and Summit League records are from time at current school.

Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record Summit record Summit titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Sweet Sixteen NCAA Championships
Denver Doshia Woods Tulane (recruiting coordinator) 4th 29–54 (.349) 18–32 (.360) 0 0 0 0
Kansas City Dionnah Jackson-Durrett Texas (Associate head coach) 2nd 9–23 (.281) 3–15 (.167) 0 0 0 0
North Dakota Mallory Bernhard North Dakota (assistant) 4th 36–47 (.434) 22–29 (.431) 0 0 0 0
North Dakota State Jory Collins Kansas (assistant) 5th 55–58 (.487) 35-33 (.515) 0 0 0 0
Omaha Carrie Banks Ohio State (assistant) 4th 29–49 (.372) 15–32 (.319) 0 0 0 0
Oral Roberts Kelsi Musick Southwestern Oklahoma State 2nd 12–19 (.387) 8–10 (.444) 0 0 0 0
St. Thomas Ruth Sinn Apple Valley HS 19th 376–126 (.749) 11–25 (.306) † 0 0 0 0
South Dakota Kayla Karius Drake (assistant) 2nd 14–16 (.467) 10–8 (.556) 0 0 0 0
South Dakota State Aaron Johnston South Dakota State (assistant) 24th 571–185 (.752) 228–34 (.861) 10 11 1 0

Notes:

  • † St. Thomas joined the Summit League in the summer of 2021.
  • Overall and Summit League records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end the 2022–23 season.
  • NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only.

Awards and honors

Players of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the Summit League offices named one or two players of the week each Monday.[16]

Week Player of the Week School Ref.
Nov. 13 Kacie Borowicz North Dakota [17]
Nov. 20 Hannah Cooper Oral Roberts [18]
Nov. 27 Brooklyn Meyer South Dakota State [19]
Dec. 4 Grace Larkins South Dakota [20]
Dec. 11 Paige Meyer South Dakota State (2) [21]
Dec. 18 Kendall Holmes South Dakota (2) [22]
Dec. 27 Ruthie Udoumoh Oral Roberts (2) [23]
Jan. 2 Taleyah Jones Oral Roberts (3) [24]
Jan. 8 Paige Meyer (2) South Dakota State (3) [25]
Jan. 15 Kacie Borowicz (2) North Dakota (2) [26]
Jan. 22 Ruthie Udoumoh (2) Oral Roberts (4) [27]
Jan. 29 Elle Evans North Dakota State [28]
Brooklyn Meyer (2) South Dakota State (4)
Feb. 5 Jordan Jones Denver [29]
Feb. 12 Madison Mathiowetz South Dakota State (5) [30]
Feb. 19 Brooklyn Meyer (3) South Dakota State (6) [31]
Feb. 26 Paige Meyer (3) South Dakota State (7) [32]
Mar. 4 Brooklyn Meyer (4) South Dakota State (8) [33]

All-League Honors

The All-Summit League teams and individual awards were announced on March 7, ahead of the Summit League tournament.[34]

2024 Summit League Women's Basketball Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Brooklyn Meyer – South Dakota State
Newcomer of the Year Taleyah Jones – Oral Roberts
Freshman of the Year Emily Robinson – Oral Roberts
Sixth Woman of the Year Jalei Oglesby – Oral Roberts
Defensive Player of the Year Brooklyn Meyer – South Dakota State
Coach of the Year Aaron Johnston – South Dakota State
Honor Recipient
All-Summit League First Team Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Elle Evans, North Dakota State
Paige Meyer, South Dakota State
Kacie Borowicz, North Dakota
Grace Larkins, South Dakota
Hannah Cooper, Oral Roberts
All-Summit League Second Team Heaven Hamling, North Dakota State
Taleyah Jones, Oral Roberts
Jordan Jones, Denver
Ruthie Udoumoh, Oral Roberts
Jade Hill, St. Thomas
All-Summit League Honorable Mention Amber Scalia, St. Thomas
Grace Cave, Omaha
Madison Mathiowetz, South Dakota State
Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts
Emma Smith, Denver
All-Defensive Team Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Ruthie Udoumoh, Oral Roberts
Tori Nelson, South Dakota State
Elle Evans, North Dakota State
Hannah Cooper, Oral Roberts
All-Newcomer Team Taleyah Jones, Oral Roberts
Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts
Kendall Holmes, South Dakota
Alayna Contreras, Kansas City
Dominique Phillips, Kansas City
All-Freshman Team Emily Robinson, Oral Roberts
Abby Krzewinski, North Dakota State
Kiera Pemberton, North Dakota
Emani Bennett, Kansas City
Jenna Hopp, South Dakota State

Postseason

Summit League tournament

Main article: 2024 Summit League women's basketball tournament

All 9 teams qualify for the Summit League tournament. The tournament is held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It will be held from March 8 to March 12, 2024.

First Round
March 8
Summit League Network 		Quarterfinals
March 9 & 10
Summit League Network 		Semifinals
March 11
CBS Sports Network 		Championship
March 12
CBS Sports Network
1 South Dakota State 66
8 Kansas City 55 9 Omaha 53
9 Omaha 61 1 South Dakota State 76
4 South Dakota 63
4 South Dakota 70
5 St. Thomas 57
1 South Dakota State 67
2 North Dakota State 54
2 North Dakota State 72
7 Denver 60
2 North Dakota State 75
3 Oral Roberts 66
3 Oral Roberts 91
6 North Dakota 68

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

Only South Dakota State was selected to participate in the tournament as the conference's automatic bid.

Seed Region School First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
No. 12 Spokane Regional South Dakota State
lost to No. 5 Utah 68–54
 — — — — —
1 Bid W-L (%): 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–1 (.000)

WNIT

Main article: 2024 Women's National Invitation Tournament

North Dakota State, Oral Roberts, and South Dakota were selected to participate in the tournament as at-large bids.[35]

School First round Second round Super 16 Great 8 Fab Four Championship
North Dakota State Bye defeated Montana 72–63 lost to Minnesota 69–65 — — —
Oral Roberts lost to Grambling 93–91 — — — — —
South Dakota defeated UC Riverside 72–57 defeated Northern Arizona 79–65 lost to Wyoming 84–52 — — —
3 Bids W-L (%): 1–1 (.500) 2–0 (1.000) 0–2 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 3–3 (.500)

References

  1. ^ "Western Illinois to depart Summit League beginning next season". The Summit League. May 12, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "Jackrabbits favored for the 2023-24 #SummitWBB crown". The Summit League. October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  3. ^ "North Dakota State Bison vs. Creighton Bluejays". ESPN. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  4. ^ "South Dakota Coyotes vs. Creighton Bluejays". ESPN. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. South Carolina Gamecocks". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  6. ^ "Oral Roberts Golden Eagles vs. Texas Longhorns". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "Washington State Cougars vs. South Dakota State Jackrabbits". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  9. ^ "Oral Roberts Golden Eagles vs. Kansas State Wildcats". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  10. ^ "Omaha Mavericks vs. TCU Horned Frogs". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  11. ^ "South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. Creighton Bluejays". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  12. ^ "South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. Utah Utes". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  13. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Standings". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  14. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Statistics". The Summit League. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  15. ^ "CBS Sports, Summit League release 13-game national television schedule". The Summit League. October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  16. ^ "2023-24 TicketSmarter Women's Basketball Peak Performers of the Week". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  17. ^ "UND's Borowicz claims season's first TicketSmarter #SummitWBB Weekly Accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 13, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  18. ^ "ORU's Cooper garners TicketSmarter #SummitWBB Weekly Accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  19. ^ "SDSU's Meyer earns TicketSmarter #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "USD's Larkins claims TicketSmarter #SummitWBB weekly accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 4, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  21. ^ "SDSU's Meyer claims TicketSmarter #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  22. ^ "USD's Holmes nets TicketSmarter #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  23. ^ "ORU's Udoumon racks up TicketSmarter #SummitWBB weekly award". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
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  28. ^ "NDSU's Evans, SDSU's Meyer share TicketSmarter #SummitWBB weekly honors". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  29. ^ "Denver's Jones garners TicketSmarter #SummitWB weekly accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. February 5, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
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  35. ^ "Postseason WNIT officials release 48-team field for 2024 event". womensnit.com. Women's National Invitation Tournament. March 17, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.