Jackrabbits win Summit tourney title

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota State made the most of its first year of eligibility by defeating Oakland University 79-69 Tuesday for the Summit League championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Jennifer Warkenthien’s 23 points and 11 rebounds led the 17th rated Jackrabbits, who started cold and trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half in their first year of Division I eligibility.

“We just knew that we weren’t ready to give up and this wasn’t something we wanted to go back in the locker room feeling the way we felt at halftime,” said Warkenthien, the Summit League player of the year during the regular season.

SDSU went from being the NCAA Division II national champion in 2003 to a transition phase to D-I that kept them out of postseason play.

“At halftime I told the team they should be more angry than disappointed at themselves and not at anybody other than us,” said SDSU coach Aaron Johnston after a 32 percent shooting effort and 11 turnovers.

“We just didn’t really compete well. It could have been because of nerves, it could have been because we didn’t start well or a lot of reasons. Oakland played well. In the second half our effort level was much better.”

SDSU, playing before a crowd of 5,580 in an arena just 50 minutes from campus, cut a 10-point halftime deficit to three points barely four minutes into the second half and brought the partisan crowd back into the game.

Tags: sports, sdsu, jackrabbits, summit, ncaa, womens, basketball