SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - On October 11, 2022, the Omaha Mavericks were picked to finish 10th in the Summit League in the conference's annual preseason poll. Now, after a 69-60 win over Kansas City in the conference tournament semifinals, the Mavericks are heading back to the Championship game for the second time in three years.

The No. 6 Mavericks will now face off with the No. 1 South Dakota State Jackrabbits tomorrow for the Summit League title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. SDSU will prove to be the toughest challenge yet as they have not lost a single game all season to a conference opponent. 
 
Leaders For Omaha  
A day after she became the third Maverick this season to top 300 points, Grace Cave matched her season high with a team-leading 19 points today, shooting 7-for-9 (.778) from the floor, making two from behind the arc and also going 3-for-4 from the line. She now has 319 points on the season and increases her PPG to 10.3

Right behind Cave was Elena Pilakouta who totaled 16 points and pulled down a team-best 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and eighth of the season.

Aaliyah Stanley also scored in double-digits today with 15 points to bring her season total to 356 (11.5 PPG).

Kennedi Grant just missed double-digit points with nine today, but that was more than enough to get her over the 300-point mark at 305 to join Pilakouta, Stanley, and Cave as the first Mavericks quartet in the Division I era to each do so in the same season. She also led the team today with five assists and five steals.

Leaders for Kansas City
Manna Mensah was the leading scorer today with 23 points, going 8-for-20 (.400) and making 10 free throws. Tamia Ugass narrowly missed getting a double-double as she put up 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Team Stats  
Just like on Sunday, the Mavericks outshot their opponent overall at 45.5% (25-for-55) to 37.7% (20-for-53). Both teams were practically even on three-pointers with the Roos making four and Omaha three, and both squads made the same amount of free throws at 16 each. The Mavericks and Roos were also dead even with 33 rebounds apiece.
 
Inside the First Quarter  
Omaha got off to another fast start today as Cave converted an easy layup on the feed from Grant 25 seconds in. Cave would go on to score the first eight points of the game for Omaha, sinking back-to-back threes to make it 8-2 in under three minutes.
 
The Mavericks did not let up the entire period as they quickly silenced a Kansas City rally to score nine unanswered, starting with a triple from Stanley at 5:04. Pilakouta capped off a dominant first quarter with bucket and an and one as Omaha led 20-13 after 10 minutes.
 
Inside the Second Quarter
The Roos came back strong in the second quarter, outscoring Omaha 9-2 through the first four and a half minutes. Heading into the media timeout, Stanley briefly swung momentum back in Omaha's favor with a couple of jumpers in the paint, the first coming off a clutch steal from Polina Nikulochkina.
 
This was not enough to stop Kansas City from gradually chipping away at Omaha's once great lead, though, as they ended up topping the Mavericks 17-12 in the quarter. Cave managed to pick up four more points in the second half of the quarter, giving her 14 on the day and just barely keeping the Mavericks in the lead at 32-30.
 
Inside the Third Quarter
The Mavericks somewhat regained control in the third quarter, but the Roos managed to again keep it close. Pilakouta racked up five more points through the first three minutes, followed by four from Stanley to make it 42-35.
 
Despite a couple more driving layups from Grant, Kansas City once again outscored Omaha through the final five minutes by 9-6, sending it to the final quarter with the Mavericks up just 48-44.
 
Inside the Fourth Quarter
With a four-point lead in tow, the Mavericks hunkered down and completely overwhelmed the Roos, besting them 21-16 over the final 10 minutes. After Kansas City initially made it a two-point game with a layup 30 seconds in, the Mavericks immediately responded with a pair of free throws from Pilakouta and jumpers from Cave and Katie Keitges to make it 54-49.

With two minutes to go, Omaha's lead grew to 10 points as Cave got a steal and set up Keitges for a layup at 2:55, followed by steal from Stanley set up Cave for her own bucket 20 seconds later. From there, it was only a matter of running out the clock as the Mavericks cruised to victory and a spot in the finals.
 
Next Up  
The Summit League Tournament Finals get underway tomorrow at 1 p.m., as the Mavericks and Jackrabbits will compete for the Summit League title and an NCAA Tournament bid.