March 10, 2009

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

Oakland University

• The Golden Grizzlies fell to 9-4 record when the opposing team scores first.
• With her 22 points, Jessica Pike picked up her 1,470th career point, passing Anne Hafeli (1,469 points, 2002-06) for eighth all-time at Oakland.
• With her 12-point performance, Melissa Jeltema now needs just seven points to pass Stacy Lamphere (1,064 career points, 1989-93) for 21st all-time at Oakland.
• Today's game was Oakland's first loss from the No. 2 seed in the Summit League tournament.
• The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Golden Grizzlies.
• At the first media timeout of the first half, Oakland held a 10-7 lead. Jessica Pike had scored eight points with two 3-pointers.
• This championship game featured Oakland's Jessica Pike starting against South Dakota State's Jennifer Warkenthien - a unique matchup with two starters earning Academic All-America honors this year.
• Pike scored her 20th point of the game at the 3:55 point of the first half.
• Oakland fell to 10-1 when Hanna Reising reaches double figures in scoring.
• After scoring 20 points in the first half, senior Jessica Pike was held scoreless until the 8:55 point in the second half, when the senior knocked down a layup to pull OU to within 55-53.
• Oakland fell to 0-2 when Melissa Jeltema fouls out, and the Golden Grizzlies fell to 1-4 whenever any player fouled out. It was OU's first game where more than one player fouled out.

South Dakota State

• The Jackrabbits are the Summit League champions in SDSU's first-ever trip to the Summit League tournament.
• SDSU's Jennifer Warkenthien scored the first basket of the game.
• Prior to today's championship victory, South Dakota State had never won a league tournament championship game at any level, entering play today. The Jacks reached two NCC finals during its Division II years, dropping back-to-back championship games to North Dakota in 2002 and 2003.
• With its win today, South Dakota State is one win shy of tying the school record of 32, set in 2002-03, when the Division II national champions went 32-3.
• The Jackrabbits entered the game on a 16-game winning streak.
• After Oakland led for the majority of the first half, South Dakota State claimed the lead at the 13:46 point of the second half on a 3-pointer by Stacie Oistad. After a 3-poiner by OU's Hanna Reising quickly gave OU a 48-46 lead, Jill Young nailed a 3-pointer to give the Jacks the lead once again (49-48).
• SDSU moves to 23-0 when it outrebounds its opponent.
• SDSU improved to a 4-1 neutral-court record.
• The Jackrabbits are undefeated when they score more than 56 points in a game.
• The Jackrabbits will look to snap a long championship drought for No. 1 seeds in the Summit League championship, as the last top seed to win was Youngstown State in 1998. Only five times in 16 tournaments has the top seed won the championship. A breakdown of championships by seed follows:

No. 1 seed tournament champions
Northern Illinois, 1992-93 (d. No. 2 Green Bay, 75-58)
Western Illinois, 1994-95 (d. No. 2 Youngstown State, 73-60)
Youngstown State, 1995-96 (d. No. 2 Buffalo, 53-43)
Troy State, 1996-97 (d. No. 2 Youngstown State, 89-75)
Youngstown State, 1997-98 (d. No. 2 Valparaiso, 78-69)
South Dakota State, 2008-09 (d. No. 2 Oakland, 79-69)

No. 2 seed tournament champions
Green Bay, 1993-94 (d. No. 1 Northern Illinois, 73-70)
Youngstown State, 1999-2000 (d. No. 4 Valparaiso, 73-57)
Oral Roberts, 2000-01 (d. No. 1 Oakland, 61-46)
Oakland, 2001-02 (d. No. 1 Valparaiso, 52-40)
Valparaiso, 2003-04 (d. No. 5 Oral Roberts, 64-63)

No. 3 seed tournament champions
Oral Roberts, 2006-07 (d. No. 1 Oakland, 72-55)

No. 4 seed tournament champions
Oral Roberts, 1998-99 (d. No. 2 Youngstown State, 57-52)
Valparaiso, 2002-03 (d. No. 6 Oakland, 48-46)
Oral Roberts, 2004-05 (d. No. 7 UMKC, 48-42)
Oral Roberts, 2007-08 (d. No. 3 IUPUI, 66-53)

No. 6 seed tournament champions
Oakland, 2005-06 (d. No. 1 Western Illinois, 65-56)