Oakland and SDSU Advance to Third Straight Tourney Final
Three is the beautiful number for the South Dakota State women and the Oakland men's basketball team.
Oakland, which is in its fourth tourney final in five years, tries to defend its title and get another shot at the NCAA Division Men's Tournament. This is a team that loves Sioux Falls, putting together a 7-1 mark since the tournament has been held at the Arena.
The SDSU women's team must feel like winning the Summit Tourney is a birthright. They are now 8-0 and have advanced to the tourney final for the third straight year. With a win, they would be the first team in the NCAA women's field to ever advance to the national tournament in each of its first three years of eligibility - quite an accomplishment.
This afternoon, this team they will face the Oakland women, seeded fourth, who pulled off one of the biggest surprise in tournament history when they pummeled top seed Oral Roberts, 96-52, in the semifinals on Monday afternoon. The margin of victory was the largest in tourney history.
For the second straight season Oral Roberts won the regular season title in dominating fashion, only to fall hard in the tournament. Jerry Finkbeiner's ORU team, 16-2 in regular season conference play, suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to SDSU in the tourney final a year ago. Then, the 2011 tourney opened with ORU rolling past Western Illinois, 108-79. It didn't appear that the loss of stellar point guard Jaci Bigham would derail one of the nation's highest scoring teams. And, with the league's top player in Kevi Luper, ORU appeared ready to pounce on an NCAA tournament bid.
Yet on its way to that elusive tournament crown, ORU endured one of its worst performances ever and now Oakland joins the championship fray with nemesis SDSU.
Oakland Coach Beckie Francis had a smile that lit up the press conference room after the win over ORU; but she didn't mince thoughts, noting that Oakland had a goal and it wasn't just a semifinal upset win. Rather, that semifinal victory was just a step toward their bigger goal, one that SDSU has grabbed for two straight seasons. The Oakland women, who lost to the Jacks in the tourney final two years ago, have gone to a pair of NCAA tournaments with their last appearance after winning the Summit title in 2006. As they prepare for their seventh Summit Tourney final, to be televised on ESPNU, Oakland (20-11) will try and match their semifinal effort when five players scored in double figures, led by sophomore Bethany Watterworth's 18 points.
For a while this season, it didn't appear that Aaron Johnston's SDSU women would be going anywhere. For much of the season, they were struggling with a sub-.500 record. Now after winning 10-of-11 games, the Jacks are 18-13 and on the verge of dancing again in the biggest boogie of all, the NCAA Division I tournament. For the Jacks, two seniors, Macie Michaelson and Kristine Robert stepped up in the biggest game of the season. Michaelson's two free throws with 11 seconds to play and 15 points help SDSU take a hard fought 70-67 win over second-seeded IPFW in the semifinals. Rotert, who had 24 points, including six three-point baskets, hit a shot in the lane with 49 seconds to play to give SDSU a three-point lead.
While the Jacks have put together one of the great turnarounds in their history, the Oakland men continue to feature the league's most dominant team. They won the regular season title for the second straight year and their 24-9 record, included a 17-1 record in conference play.
Against SDSU in the semifinals, the Grizzlies rolled to a 25-9 lead just six minutes into the game and finished off the upstart Jackrabbits, 110-90. Oakland had five players in double figures, including Drew Valentine with 24. The 110 points was the second highest total in men's Summit League history. They also tied the mark for most field goals in a game, held by three other squads.
Oakland is a long and athletic bunch led by NBA prospect Keith Benson. But Benson, who added to his opponents' woes by hitting a three-point shot last night, is just a piece of one of the best men's teams in Summit League history. Those aren't my words but that of Scott Sutton, head coach for Oral Roberts, whose team last won a title in 2007-08 and will try to stage a major upset when they play on ESPN2 tonight. Both teams feature outstanding athletes but Oakland's size plus guard Reggie Hamilton make the possibilities of an upset a long and difficult climb for ORU.
While Oakland won the day in the semifinals, winning today is a bigger goal for both its men's and women's teams. SDSU's women's team has owned the title game the last two years and with a large Jackrabbit following in the Arena seats, the women of Oakland have a difficult mountain to scale.
Meanwhile, the Oakland men don't appear to have any weaknesses and are the biggest animal in Sioux Falls. They have bigger prey to seek on their horizon. With a win at Tennessee earlier this year, a one and done verdict in the national tournament doesn't fit into their plans. ORU faces a beast of a Gorilla tonight as will Oakland's first round opponent in the NCAAs.
Oakland, which is in its fourth tourney final in five years, tries to defend its title and get another shot at the NCAA Division Men's Tournament. This is a team that loves Sioux Falls, putting together a 7-1 mark since the tournament has been held at the Arena.
The SDSU women's team must feel like winning the Summit Tourney is a birthright. They are now 8-0 and have advanced to the tourney final for the third straight year. With a win, they would be the first team in the NCAA women's field to ever advance to the national tournament in each of its first three years of eligibility - quite an accomplishment.
This afternoon, this team they will face the Oakland women, seeded fourth, who pulled off one of the biggest surprise in tournament history when they pummeled top seed Oral Roberts, 96-52, in the semifinals on Monday afternoon. The margin of victory was the largest in tourney history.
For the second straight season Oral Roberts won the regular season title in dominating fashion, only to fall hard in the tournament. Jerry Finkbeiner's ORU team, 16-2 in regular season conference play, suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to SDSU in the tourney final a year ago. Then, the 2011 tourney opened with ORU rolling past Western Illinois, 108-79. It didn't appear that the loss of stellar point guard Jaci Bigham would derail one of the nation's highest scoring teams. And, with the league's top player in Kevi Luper, ORU appeared ready to pounce on an NCAA tournament bid.
Yet on its way to that elusive tournament crown, ORU endured one of its worst performances ever and now Oakland joins the championship fray with nemesis SDSU.
Oakland Coach Beckie Francis had a smile that lit up the press conference room after the win over ORU; but she didn't mince thoughts, noting that Oakland had a goal and it wasn't just a semifinal upset win. Rather, that semifinal victory was just a step toward their bigger goal, one that SDSU has grabbed for two straight seasons. The Oakland women, who lost to the Jacks in the tourney final two years ago, have gone to a pair of NCAA tournaments with their last appearance after winning the Summit title in 2006. As they prepare for their seventh Summit Tourney final, to be televised on ESPNU, Oakland (20-11) will try and match their semifinal effort when five players scored in double figures, led by sophomore Bethany Watterworth's 18 points.
For a while this season, it didn't appear that Aaron Johnston's SDSU women would be going anywhere. For much of the season, they were struggling with a sub-.500 record. Now after winning 10-of-11 games, the Jacks are 18-13 and on the verge of dancing again in the biggest boogie of all, the NCAA Division I tournament. For the Jacks, two seniors, Macie Michaelson and Kristine Robert stepped up in the biggest game of the season. Michaelson's two free throws with 11 seconds to play and 15 points help SDSU take a hard fought 70-67 win over second-seeded IPFW in the semifinals. Rotert, who had 24 points, including six three-point baskets, hit a shot in the lane with 49 seconds to play to give SDSU a three-point lead.
While the Jacks have put together one of the great turnarounds in their history, the Oakland men continue to feature the league's most dominant team. They won the regular season title for the second straight year and their 24-9 record, included a 17-1 record in conference play.
Against SDSU in the semifinals, the Grizzlies rolled to a 25-9 lead just six minutes into the game and finished off the upstart Jackrabbits, 110-90. Oakland had five players in double figures, including Drew Valentine with 24. The 110 points was the second highest total in men's Summit League history. They also tied the mark for most field goals in a game, held by three other squads.
Oakland is a long and athletic bunch led by NBA prospect Keith Benson. But Benson, who added to his opponents' woes by hitting a three-point shot last night, is just a piece of one of the best men's teams in Summit League history. Those aren't my words but that of Scott Sutton, head coach for Oral Roberts, whose team last won a title in 2007-08 and will try to stage a major upset when they play on ESPN2 tonight. Both teams feature outstanding athletes but Oakland's size plus guard Reggie Hamilton make the possibilities of an upset a long and difficult climb for ORU.
While Oakland won the day in the semifinals, winning today is a bigger goal for both its men's and women's teams. SDSU's women's team has owned the title game the last two years and with a large Jackrabbit following in the Arena seats, the women of Oakland have a difficult mountain to scale.
Meanwhile, the Oakland men don't appear to have any weaknesses and are the biggest animal in Sioux Falls. They have bigger prey to seek on their horizon. With a win at Tennessee earlier this year, a one and done verdict in the national tournament doesn't fit into their plans. ORU faces a beast of a Gorilla tonight as will Oakland's first round opponent in the NCAAs.
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