Omaha secured a 49-39 victory over North Dakota in the opening round of the Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship on Wednesday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Mavericks led from start to finish, holding North Dakota to just 23.5% shooting from the field.
Junior Ali Stephens was Omaha’s top scorer with 17 points, including 11 in the second half, and added 13 rebounds for her third career double-double. “Stephens also grabbed 13 rebounds as she finished with her third career double-double,” according to team officials. Two of these double-doubles have come against North Dakota this season.
Freshman Avril Smith contributed seven points and collected a game-high 16 rebounds, while fellow freshman Regan Juenemann came off the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds. Smith had nine of her rebounds in the first 12 minutes of play.
Omaha set an early tone by limiting North Dakota’s offense; North Dakota missed its first 14 shots and trailed 11-1 after one quarter. The Mavericks’ largest lead of the first half was established when Leekaya Burke Perryman scored a layup just before halftime, making it 25-12.
In the third quarter, Omaha extended its advantage by scoring on five consecutive possessions during a key stretch that pushed their lead to 37-22 with under four minutes left in the period. Stephens made two three-pointers and a layup during this run.
The Mavericks finished with eight three-pointers overall, including back-to-back threes late in the game from Juenemann and Stephens after North Dakota had narrowed the gap to single digits. Stephens’ final three-pointer gave Omaha a comfortable margin at 49-36 with less than two minutes remaining.
Omaha outrebounded North Dakota by eight (43-35) and held them to just one made three-pointer out of twenty attempts. Graduate Sarai Estupiñan added eight points and five assists for Omaha.
With this win, Omaha advances to face top-seeded North Dakota State (26-3) at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT Thursday in the quarterfinals. Omaha has posted a .500 record since late January (4-4), while North Dakota concludes its season at 7-24.
Tickets are available for Thursday’s game, which will be broadcast on Midco Sports and streamed on the Summit League Network. Radio coverage will be provided by Varsity Network and local station 1290 KOIL in Omaha.
Fans can follow Omaha Women’s Basketball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @OmahaWBB.
