SDSU Captures Record Fourth-Straight Summit League Women's Title - Mar 7, 2012

A pair of free throws by Jill Young with seven seconds to play in overtime gave South Dakota State its record fourth-straight championship at the Summit League women's basketball tournament Tuesday afternoon.
The Jacks, 24-8 on the season and league regular season champions, defeated No. 3 seed UMKC 78-77, to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
UMKC rallied from a 62-56 deficit to force an overtime when Brianna Eldridge tied the game with a layup with one minute to play. SDSU missed two three-point attempts and UMKC missed a shot before regulation ended.
In the extra session, UMKC went ahead 73-71 on two free throws by Eilise O'Connor. The Jacks regained the lead on a layup by Leah Dietel, who was fouled on the play and hit the free throw for a 74-73 advantage. The Jacks stretched the margin to three on a driving basket by Tara Heiser. But back-to-back baskets by O'Connor put UMKC back on top 77-76 before Young made the deciding free throws.
UMKC opened the game with a 9-0 run on three layups by Kim Nezianya and a three-point basket by Dayon Hall-Jones, and pushed the margin to 19-6 on a layup by Jade Tinner at the 12:15 mark.
SDSU, which made just two of its first 14 field goal attempts, closed within seven, at 23-16 following a layup by Tara Heiser. The Kangaroos scored the next 10 points to open a 33-16 lead when Emile Blakesly nailed a three-pointer with 3:07 to play.
SDSU cut the margin to nine when Gabby Boever hit a three-pointer with three seconds left in the half, making it 36-27.
SDSU opened the second half with a run tying the game at 36 on a three-pointer by Ashley Eide. The Jacks got their first lead of the game on another three-pointer by Eide with 12:30 to go, making it 45-44.
Young, a senior guard, went 4-for-4 at the line in the overtime period and finished with 13 points, sharing the team lead with Eide. Jennie Sunnarborg had 12 points and nine rebounds and Heiser, starting in place of injured Steph Paluch, added 12.
UMKC senior Dayon Hall-Jones took game scoring honors with 27 points, hitting 11-of-26 field goal attempts including four three-pointers. Nezianya added a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double while O'Connor finished with 11 points.
UMKC had five more field goals than SDSU, 32-27, but the Jacks hit 12 three-point shots, three by Young and were 12-of-16 at the foul line while UMKC was just 4-for-8.
SDSU shot 42.2 percent (27-for-64) for the game, while UMKC checked in at 44.4 percent (32-for-72). UMKC had a 46-37 rebound advantage, but the Jacks won the battle of the boards 22-21 after intermission.
The game was tied 11 times and there were five lead changes.
While SDSU has won every Summit League tournament it has played in since becoming NCAA Division I and is now 12-0 in tourney play, it was just the second championship game appearance for the Kangaroos, who were also runner-up in 2005. UMKC finished the season 22-11, losing to SDSU three times this season.

Courtesy of The Summit League

Summit League Tournament Final: South Dakota State - UMKC 78-77, OT
Summit League Tournament Semifinals:
South Dakota State - IUPUI 79-54
UMKC - Western Illinois 71-56

All-Summit League 1st Team 2011-2012
#s#	Luper	Hall-Jones	Hegge	Nelson	Sunnarborg	#e#5