Follow The Game
The No. 8-seeded Omaha women's basketball team takes on No. 2 South Dakota this Tuesday, March 9 in the Summit League Championship Final, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament with the league's automatic bid. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and Watch ESPN.com with Kevin Fitzgerald and Steffi Sorensen on the call, and Jon Schriner will have the radio call on 1180 The Zone. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
- Omaha is 7-12 on the season after upsetting fifth-seeded Western Illinois 69-55 on Monday.
- The Mavericks are the first No. 8 seed in the women's or men's side to reach the Summit League Championship Final.
- Tuesday's Summit League Championship Final appearance is the first-ever in program history for the Mavericks after only reaching the Summit League Semifinal twice before this season.
- Omaha earned its first Top 25 victory in program history with an upset over No. 21 and top-seeded South Dakota State in the Summit League Quarterfinal.
- Elena Pilakouta leads the Mavericks in scoring this season with 12.7 points per game while shooting 56.5 percent from the field.
- Josie Filer is scoring 10.6 points per game and grabbing a team-high 6.0 boards per game in 17 starts this season.
- Senior Claire Killian is one of three Mavericks to play in all 19 games this season and is scoring 11.9 points per game this season while leading Omaha with 1.7 steals per game.
- Head coach Carrie Banks is in her first season at the helm of the Maverick program.
Scouting the South Dakota Coyotes
- South Dakota is 18-5 (12-2 Summit League) on the season after routing No. 3 North Dakota State in the Summit League Quarterfinal.
- The Coyotes are the defending Summit League Tournament Champions and are looking to qualify for their third-straight NCAA Tournament.
- Hannah Sjerven was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year while named to the All-Summit First Team with Chloe Lamb. Liv Korngable was named to the All-Summit Second Team and Maddie Krull was selected to the league's All-Newcomer Team.
- Sjerven the Coyotes in scoring and rebounding with 17.0 points and 9.7 boards per game while Chloe Lamb and Liv Korngable are adding 16.2 and 15.0 points per game, respectively.
- As a team, the Coyotes are scoring 75.7 points per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the floor, including 33.5 percent from three-point range.
- Head coach Dawn Plitzuweit is in her fifth season leading the Coyote program and has a record of 128-29 in her time at South Dakota. Plitzuweit is 316-122 in her 14th season overall as a head coach.
All-Time Against South Dakota
Tuesday's matchup marks the 84
th all-time meeting between Omaha and South Dakota. The Coyotes lead the all-time series over the Mavericks, 48-35.
In their last meeting, South Dakota collected a 99-40 victory over Omaha in the Summit League Quarterfinal on March 7, 2020 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
