South Dakota wins WNIT championship
Photo Credit: Aaron Packard
South Dakota 71, Florida Gulf Coast 65 VERMILLION, SD — Tia Hemiller tied her career-high in scoring with 22 points, and South Dakota protected its fourth-quarter lead through a couple of tense moments Saturday as the Coyotes claimed the 2016 Postseason WNIT Championship by beating Florida Gulf Coast, 71-65. In front of 7,415 fans in the final women’s game at the DakotaDome (a record turnout for a women’s game at USD), the Coyotes (32-6) got a foothold by keeping the Eagles (33-6) scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter. Entering the final 10 minutes, South Dakota had a 45-38 lead, but had led by as much as 12 (41-29) when Caitlin Duffy hit a 3-pointer with 4:15 remaining in the third. Eagles center Whitney Knight, who had a career-high nine blocked shots (one off the WNIT single-game record), hit a free throw with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter to cut the Eagles’ deficit to 45-43; she was whistled for her fourth foul 7 seconds later and had to come out of the game. Sensing the need for some offense, Hemiller converted a three-point play at 8:14, then hit three free throws after being fouled, which pushed the Coyotes up, 51-43 with 6:43 remaining. Kaneisha Atwater nearly brought the Eagles all the way back, scoring eight straight points for her team and bringing the deficit back to two, 53-51, with 5:11 remaining. With the tension building, Kelly Stewart nailed a 3-pointer with 4:31 left to send South Dakota up, 56-51; a key offensive rebound by Abigail Fogg at 3:00 allowed the Coyotes to keep the ball away from Atwater, and Stewart hit another 3 at 2:11 to build the lead to 61-53. Hemiller sank the dagger at 1:34, taking a pass from Nicole Seekamp and draining a 3 to make it 64-55. Stewart finished with 12 points for the Coyotes; Fogg had 10 points, nine bounds and three blocked shots, and Seekamp worked around a cold afternoon of shooting to chip in seven points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The Coyotes shot 39 percent from 3-point range and worked around their 14 turnovers. “There’s a toughness and a grit about us, and we certainly played that way today,” said South Dakota coach Amy Williams. “I’m going to remember what a great team win that was. Abigail Fogg had to step in and step up, and Tia Hemiller played of her best games. Our team stayed committed to the team effort, and we were able to lean on a lot of different people.” Atwater closed with 25 points for the Eagles; Taylor Gradinjan had 12 points, and Stephanie Haas added 11 points and six rebounds. Florida Gulf Coast shot 37 percent from the field and was out-rebounded, 48-31. Defense dominated the mood in the first half, with South Dakota taking a 31-27 lead at the break. The Eagles shot just 31 percent from the field, but got a major lift from Haas, who scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes. South Dakota shot a decent 45 percent in the first half as nine different players scored. The Coyotes were hampered by 10 turnovers, but were able to hold firm thanks to a 25-16 edge in rebounds. Stewart came through with a big 3-pointer with about 3:30 to go in the second quarter that broke a scoring drought of 2:30 for the home team. Seekamp was named the MVP of the Postseason WNIT; the other players on the all-tourney team were Maite Cazorla of Oregon, Madison Ristovski of Michigan, Knight and Atwater from Florida Gulf Coast, and Hemiller from South Dakota. 
Headlines
South Dakota wins WNIT championship Championship Preview and Notes Semifinal Recap Semifinal Preview - Michigan at FGCU Semifinal Recap Semifinal Preview - Oregon at South Dakota Quarterfinal Recaps - March 28 Quarterfinal Previews - March 28 Quarterfinal Recap - March 27 Round Three Recap - March 25 Round Three Recaps - March 24 Round Three Previews - March 24-25 Round Three Recap - March 23 Round Three Recaps - March 22 Round of 16 Previews - March 22-23 Round Two Recaps - March 21 Round Two Recaps - March 20 Round Two Recaps - March 19 Round One Recaps - March 18 Round One Recaps - March 17 Round One Recaps - March 16 Abilene Christian up to speed in transition How the Selection Committee approaches bracketing Postseason WNIT field announced Saint Louis wisely sticks with Stone's vision Santa Clara shakes off past disappointments |
2016 Postseason WNIT TeamsAQ Teams
Abilene Christian (26-3), Southland Arkansas State (26-5), Sun Belt Bethune-Cookman (18-12), MEAC Bucknell (24-7), Patriot Drexel (19-13), Colonial Florida Gulf Coast (28-5), Atlantic Sun Fresno State (21-11), MWC Harvard (14-13), Ivy Liberty (20-12), Big South Maine (26-8, America East Mercer (24-8), Southern Milwaukee (19-12), Horizon Minnesota (19-11), Big Ten Montana State (21-9), Big Sky Northern Iowa (22-10), Missouri Valley Ohio (24-6), Mid-American Oregon (20-10), Pac-12 Quinnipiac (24-8), MAAC Sacred Heart (20-12), Northeast Saint Louis (24-7), Atlantic 10 Saint Mary’s (24-7), WCC South Dakota (26-6), Summit Southern (19-11), SWAC TCU (16-14), Big 12 Temple (20-11), American UC Riverside (23-8), Big West UT Martin (21-9), Ohio Valley UTEP (26-4), C-USA UT Rio Grande Valley (19-13), WAC Villanova (19-11), Big East At-Large Teams Akron (19-13), Mid-American Alabama (15-15), SEC Ball State (21-9), Mid-American Central Michigan (22-10), Mid-American Charlotte (19-11), C-USA Creighton (17-17), Big East Dayton (14-14), Atlantic 10 Drake (22-9), Missouri Valley Eastern Michigan (21-11), Mid-American Elon (18-12), Colonial Georgetown (16-13), Big East Georgia Tech (19-12), ACC Gonzaga (18-13), West Coast Hofstra (22-8), Colonial Iowa (19-13), Big Ten IUPUI (20-10), Summit Little Rock (20-12), Sun Belt Long Beach State (24-8), Big West Marshall (21-11), C-USA Memphis (18-12), American Michigan (17-13), Big Ten Nebraska (18-12), Big Ten Northwestern (18-16), Big Ten Rutgers (18-14), Big Ten San Diego (23-7), West Coast Santa Clara (23-8), West Coast Tulane (21-11), American Utah (16-14), Pac-12 VCU (23-9), Atlantic 10 Virginia (16-15), ACC Virginia Tech (17-13), ACC Wake Forest (16-15), ACC Western Kentucky (24-6), C-USA Wright State (24-10), Horizon | ||
