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With the first portion of the regular season Summit League schedule completed, there's a log jam in the middle of the standings. It's a log jam that is going to work itself out eventually, but eventually could mean two weeks or the beginning of March, which happens to be the beginning of the Summit League tournament.
The two teams that top the standings are no surprise. South Dakota State and Oral Roberts are first and second respectively with only one game separating them in wins and losses column. The Jackrabbits and the Golden Eagles have one game left against one another on the schedule. ORU took the first game in Tulsa against SDSU earlier this season.
Missouri-Kansas City and Oakland are one game ahead of the four-way tie with 5-4 records in the league. North Dakota State will square off against Oakland on Saturday, and the Bison have one game left against UMKC after the ‘Roos took care of business against the Herd last week on the strength of 22 first half points from LeaAndrea Thomas.
The four teams tied for fourth place are South Dakota, Western Illinois, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and North Dakota State. The teams' records in the conference are 4-5, but there is one slight difference between the four.
After starting off the conference grind with a 2-5 record, South Dakota has won two straight to pull themselves back into the thick of things. The Coyotes have done it on the strength of senior forward and current Summit League Player of the Week Amber Hegge. Most recently, Hegge put up 16 points and 12 boards against the Bison a couple weeks back.
After losses to Oral Roberts and South Dakota, Western Illinois bounced back with a big win against UMKC on Monday, and they have, what should be, a very winnable game against IUPUI on Saturday.
IUPUI and Southern Utah are the two bottom feeders in the league at the moment and they are spiraling downward. IUPUI is 3-6 at the midway point, but have lost two straight games, and have a tough stretch ahead with games against WIU, IPFW and Oakland. Southern Utah has just one win on the season with a conference record of 1-8 and an overall record of 5-15.
With a tough road trip this weekend, the Bison will seemingly have to at least split to keep pace with the three other teams they are tied with. Oakland and IPFW will play host to the Herd over the weekend, before NDSU hosts Oral Roberts and Southern Utah to start the month of February.
During the final stretch, finding some sort of offensive threat is going to be key for NDSU. Abby Plucker is averaging well below what was expected coming into the season at just over 10 points per game, but a mid-season takeoff would be nothing new NDSU fans, coaches and players. Plucker took off in the very same category last season and carried her team during the final stretch.
The Bison will play their final nine games of the season from now until Feb. 27 before the Summit League Championships begin on March 3 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
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