Summit League WBB Release/Stats (1-27-09)

CRACKING THE TOP 25 South Dakota State became the fi rst Summit League women's basketball program to crack the Top 25 rankings since the 1993-94 season. The Jackrabbits earned a No. 20 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and received votes in the Associated Press poll this week. The last league school to be ranked was Northern Illinois, when the Huskies were No. 25 on Jan. 31, 1994. SDSU is now the highest ranked league team ever, besting NIU's No. 21 ranking on Feb. 16, 1993. RPI RANKINGS The Summit League is currently ranked 19th by rpiratings.com and 18th by the Sagarin rankings out of the 31 conferences and independents. The league is ranked ahead of the likes of the Big West, WAC, Big Sky and Southland conferences. South Dakota State and Oakland are the lone teams in the top 100 for the league, placing 28th and 83rd, respectively. TRIPLE-DOUBLE Oakland's Brittany Carnago recorded the league's fi rst triple-double since Valparaiso's Betsy Rietema accomplished the feat on Dec. 2, 2006 against Indiana State. Carnago had 14 points, 11 blocks and 10 rebounds in the 66-54 victory over Centenary on Jan. 12. BIG-TIME VICTORIES South Dakota State reeled off victories over fi ve power conference schools behind a balanced attack thus far en route to its 12-1 record this season. The Jackrabbits were led by Jennifer Warkenthien with 15 points in a 55-50 win at Missouri. In a 64-44 win over Wisconsin, Maria Boever collected 10 boards. SDSU defeated Pac-10 foe Oregon at Frost Arena behind a 19-point effort from Ketty Cornemann. SDSU also defeated Illinois on Thanksgiving Day at the Caribbean Challenge MTE behind 26 points from Kristen Rotert. On Dec. 9, the Jacks ousted No. 25 Minnesota, 65-55, behind a career-high 27 points from Rotert. Meanwhile, IUPUI collected its fi rst-ever win over an ACC opponent after defeating Virginia Tech, 64-52, in the South Padre Island Shootout on Dec. 19. TAKING ON NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS Three Summit League schools have played a total of seven nationally-ranked opponents in the course of the non-league portion of the schedule this season. No. 23 Purdue downed IUPUI by an 80-44 score on Nov. 16. Oakland faced back-to-back ranked opponents on Nov. 20 and 23. The Golden Grizzlies hosted No. 23 Georgia and suffered a heartbreaking, 64-61 defeat and then fell at No. 21 Purdue, 68-40. In the Caribbean Challenge MTE, South Dakota State dropped a 68-56 contest to No. 10 Maryland. The lone victory came on Dec. 9, when SDSU defeated No. 25 Minnesota, 65-55. On Jan. 6, Centenary dropped a contest at No. 21 Oklahoma State, while IPFW fell at No. 25 Iowa State the following night. 1,000 POINT CLUB The Summit League currently features four career 1,000-point scorers in IUPUI's Jernisha Cann (1,339), Oakland's Jessica Pike (1,279), South Dakota State's Jennifer Warkenthien (1,124) and Oral Roberts' Mariana Camargo (1,058). IN MEMORIUM The Summit League and Southern Utah lost an important and key member with the passing of SUU head coach Steve Hodson on Nov. 3, 2008, after an eight year battle with cancer. The Thunderbird team has dedicated their season to Coach Hodson. NEW TOURNAMENT SITE For the first time, The Summit League will hold its 2009 men's and women's basketball championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. The state's largest city will play host to the event March 7-10 at Sioux Falls Arena, a 7,100-seat facility that is home to the Sioux Falls Skyforce (NBADL). The tournament format remains unchanged with the top eight teams qualifying for the postseason. RECORD-BREAKING TICKET SALES As of Dec. 22, ticket sales for the 2009 Summit League Basketball Championship in Sioux Falls, S.D., had already surpassed the 2,400 mark for all-session reserved seats. The total shatters the Summit League's previous record for all-session reserved ticket sales of 1,595 for the 2005 tournament in Tulsa, Okla. Sioux Falls Arena will host the event for the fi rst time next March. COURT SMARTS For the third consecutive season, South Dakota State led all divisions of women's college basketball in team grade-point average, according to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Jackrabbits had a combined GPA of 3.669, and in its four years competing at the Division I level, SDSU has fi nished no worse than second in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll standings. Also making the Top 25 list were North Dakota State (3.326) in 18th place and Oakland (3.312) in the 20th slot.