2025–26 Summit League women's basketball season

2025–26 Summit League women's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams9
TV partner(s)Summit League Network, CBS Sports Network
Regular season
Regular season championNorth Dakota State
Season MVPAvery Koenen, North Dakota State
Summit League tournament
ChampionsSouth Dakota State
  Runners-upNorth Dakota State
Tournament MVPBrooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
2025–26 Summit League women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Dakota State 15 – 1   .938 28 – 4   .875
South Dakota State † 14 – 2   .875 27 – 6   .818
South Dakota 12 – 4   .750 23 – 9   .719
Oral Roberts 8 – 8   .500 15 – 15   .500
St. Thomas 8 – 8   .500 16 – 16   .500
Denver 5 – 11   .313 11 – 19   .367
Kansas City 4 – 12   .250 7 – 23   .233
Omaha 3 – 13   .188 6 – 27   .182
North Dakota 3 – 13   .188 7 – 24   .226
† 2026 Summit League tournament winner
As of March 8, 2026

The 2025–26 Summit League women's basketball season began non-conference play on November 3, 2025. Conference play began on December 31, 2025, and ended on February 28, 2026. This was the nineteenth season of women's basketball play under the Summit League name and forty-fourth for the conference overall.

This will be the last season in the conference for Denver, as the Pioneers will join the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2026.[1]

The Summit League tournament took place from March 4–8, 2026. South Dakota State won the tournament, defeating North Dakota State in the tournament final, and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Preseason

The preseason Summit League women's basketball poll and awards were released on October 8, 2025.[2]

Preseason poll

First place votes in parenthesis

  1. South Dakota State (34) – 558
  2. North Dakota State (2) – 498
  3. Oral Roberts – 410
  4. South Dakota – 320
  5. St. Thomas – 305
  6. Kansas City – 291
  7. North Dakota – 251
  8. Omaha – 121
  9. Denver – 101

Preseason awards

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Preseason All-Summit League First Team Emani Bennett, Kansas City
Avery Koenen, North Dakota State
Madison Mathiowetz, South Dakota State
Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts
Jocelyn Schiller, North Dakota State
Preseason All-Summit League Second Team Walker Demers, North Dakota
Marisa Frost, North Dakota State
Maggie Hartwig, South Dakota State
Angelina Robles, South Dakota
Katie Vasecka, South Dakota State

Regular season

Records against other conferences

2025–26 records against non-conference foes as of February 1, 2026:

Major 6 Conferences Record Major 6 Conferences Record
ACC 0–2 American 3–1
Big East 1–1 Big Ten 0–4
Big 12 2–8 SEC 0–4
Major 6 Total 6–20
Other Division I Conferences Record Other Division I Conferences Record
Atlantic 10 None ASUN 0–3
America East 0–1 Big Sky 12–10
Big South None Big West 1–3
CAA 2–1 Conference USA 0–2
Horizon League 0–3 Ivy League 0–1
Independents None MAAC None
MAC 2–1 MEAC None
MVC 5–2 MWC 2–4
NEC None OVC 1–4
Patriot League 0–1 SoCon None
Southland 3–0 SWAC 2–0
Sun Belt None WAC 1–3
WCC 2–3
Other Division I Total 33–42
NCAA Division I Total 39–62
NCAA Division II Total 6–0
NCAA Division III Total 4–0
NAIA Total 12–0
NCCAA Total 0–0
Total Non-Conference Record 61–62

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

This will be a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll):
Summit League teams in bold

Date Visitor Home Site Score Conference record Ref
November 3, 2025 St. Thomas No. 14 Iowa State Hilton Coliseum ● Ames, IA L 36–85 0–1 [3]
November 9, 2025 Oral Roberts No. 22 Oklahoma State Gallagher-Iba Arena ● Stillwater, OK L 62–112 0–2 [4]
November 12, 2025 Kansas City No. 6 Oklahoma Lloyd Noble Center ● Norman, OK L 61–89 0–3 [5]
November 27, 2025 No. 12 North Carolina South Dakota State† Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya ● Cancún, MX L 48–83 0–4 [6]
December 9, 2025 Omaha No. 24 Nebraska Pinnacle Bank Arena ● Lincoln, NE L 35–87 0–5 [7]
December 21, 2025 No. 2 Texas South Dakota State First Bank and Trust Arena ● Brookings, SD L 51–70 0–6 [8]

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll

† denotes game was played at neutral site
^ denotes NCAA tournament game

Conference matrix

  Denver Kansas City North Dakota North Dakota State Omaha Oral Roberts St. Thomas South Dakota South Dakota State
vs. Denver – 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Kansas City 2–0 – 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. North Dakota 1–1 1–1 – 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. North Dakota State 0–2 0–2 0–2 – 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1
vs. Omaha 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 – 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Oral Roberts 1–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. St. Thomas 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 2–0
vs. South Dakota 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 – 1–1
vs. South Dakota State 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 –
Total 5–11 4–12 3–12 15–1 3–13 8–8 8–8 12–4 14–2

Through February 28, 2026

Points scored

Team For Against Difference
Denver 1766 1942 –176
Kansas City 1936 2031 –95
North Dakota 1786 2189 –403
North Dakota State 2334 1734 +600
Omaha 1698 2381 –683
Oral Roberts 2231 2176 +55
St. Thomas 1906 1787 +119
South Dakota 2130 1751 +379
South Dakota State 2314 1850 +464

Through February 28, 2026[9]

National Television Games

Any games that league members will play on National Television, including the Summit League's media contract with CBS Sports Network, will be listed here.[10]

Summit League members in bold

Date
Time (CT) 		Road Team Home team Final Score Network
December 3, 2025
7 PM 		Montana State North Dakota State W 90–65 CBSSN
December 21, 2025
1 PM 		Texas South Dakota State L 51–70 CBSSN

Home attendance

Team Arena Capacity Total Games Average Attendance Attendance High Total Attendance % of Capacity
Denver Hamilton Gymnasium 2,500 15 477 1,026
Nov 21 vs. Regis 		7,162 19.1%
Kansas City Swinney Recreation Center 1,500 15 348 925
Nov 20 vs. Hesston 		5,226 23.2%
North Dakota Betty Engelstad Sioux Center 3,300 16 1,540 2,575
Nov 21 vs. Wyoming 		24,646 46.7%
North Dakota State Scheels Center 5,460 13 1,717 3,708
Feb 25 vs. South Dakota St 		22,325 31.5%
Omaha Baxter Arena 7,898 13 1,022 2,839
Dec 17 vs. Creighton 		13,294 12.9%
Oral Roberts Mabee Center 10,154 13 1,331 2,210
Dec 29 vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan 		17,303 13.1%
St. Thomas Lee and Penny Anderson Arena 5,300 17 480 984
Nov 8 vs. Army 		8,172 9.1%
South Dakota Sanford Coyote Sports Center 6,000 13 1,412 2,304
Feb 21 vs. North Dakota St 		18,368 23.5%
South Dakota State First Bank and Trust Arena 6,500 14 2,787 4,449
Feb 28 vs. South Dakota 		39,022 42.9%

Bold - Exceed capacity
As of February 28, 2026
Does not include exhibition games or games played at alternate home facilities

Head coaches

Coaching changes

North Dakota

On March 24, 2025, Mallory Bernhard stepped down as head coach at North Dakota after five seasons with the program. It was also announced the same day that associate head coach Dennis Hutter would become the Fighting Hawks next head coach.[11]

Omaha

On April 22, 2025, Carrie Banks was let go from her position as head coach at Omaha after five seasons with the program.[12] Then, on May 4, 2025, Jamie Carey was named the new head coach of the Mavericks.[13]

Oral Roberts

On March 24, 2025, Kelsi Musick left Oral Roberts after three seasons to become the next head coach at Arkansas.[14] Then, on March 31, 2025, associate head coach Cophie Anderson was named the next head coach of the Golden Eagles.[15]

Coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and Summit League records are from time at current school.

Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record[a] Summit record Summit titles NCAA tournaments[b] NCAA Sweet Sixteen NCAA Championships
Denver Doshia Woods Tulane (recruiting coordinator) 6th 46–97 (.322) 25–57 (.305) 0 0 0 0
Kansas City Dionnah Jackson-Durrett Texas (Associate head coach) 4th 33–74 (.308) 12–38 (.240) 0 0 0 0
North Dakota Dennis Hutter North Dakota (associate HC) 1st 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0
North Dakota State Jory Collins Kansas (assistant) 7th 98–82 (.544) 59-41 (.590) 0 0 0 0
Omaha Jamie Carey UTSA (associate HC) 1st 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0
Oral Roberts Cophie Anderson Oral Roberts (associate HC) 1st 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0
St. Thomas Ruth Sinn Apple Valley HS 21st 407–156 (.723) 27–41 (.397)[c] 0 0 0 0
South Dakota Carrie Eighmey Idaho 2nd 11–20 (.355) 5–11 (.313) 0 0 0 0
South Dakota State Aaron Johnston South Dakota State (assistant) 26th 628–195 (.763) 260–34 (.884) 12 13 1 0
  1. ^ Overall and Summit League records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end the 2024–25 season.
  2. ^ NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only.
  3. ^ St. Thomas joined the Summit League in the summer of 2021.

Awards and honors

Players of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Summit League offices will name one or two players of the week each Monday.

Week[16] Player(s) of the Week School
Nov. 11[17] Brooklyn Meyer South Dakota State
Nov. 18[18] Brooklyn Meyer (2) South Dakota State (2)
Nov. 25[19] Avery Koenen North Dakota State
Dec. 2[20] Brooklyn Meyer (3) South Dakota State (3)
Dec. 9[21] Brooklyn Meyer (4) South Dakota State (4)
Dec. 16[22] Avery Koenen (2) North Dakota State (2)
Dec. 23[23] Avery Koenen (3) North Dakota State (3)
Dec. 30[24] Tierra Trotter Kansas City
Jan. 6[25] Avery Koenen (4) North Dakota State (4)
Jan. 13[26] Avery Koenen (5) North Dakota State (5)
Jan. 20[27] Avery Koenen (6) North Dakota State (6)
Jan. 27[28] Brooklyn Meyer (5) South Dakota State (5)
Feb. 3[29] Angelina Robles South Dakota
Feb. 10[30] Avery Koenen (7) North Dakota State (7)
Feb. 17[31] Avery Koenen (8) North Dakota State (8)
Feb. 24[32] Brooklyn Meyer (6) South Dakota State (6)
Mar. 2[33] Brooklyn Meyer (7) South Dakota State (7)

All–League Honors

The All–Summit League teams and individual awards were announced on March 3, ahead of the Summit League tournament.[34]

2026 Summit League Women's Basketball Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Avery Koenen – North Dakota State
Newcomer of the Year Molly Joyce – South Dakota
Freshman of the Year Karrington Asp – North Dakota State
Sixth Woman of the Year Karrington Asp – North Dakota State
Defensive Player of the Year Avery Koenen – North Dakota State
Coach of the Year Jory Collins – North Dakota State
Honor Recipient
All-Summit League First Team Avery Koenen, North Dakota State
Madison Mathiowetz, South Dakota State
Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Angelina Robles, South Dakota
Alyssa Sand, St. Thomas
Coryn Watts, Denver
All-Summit League Second Team Elauni Bennett, Kansas City
Marisa Frost, North Dakota State
Molly Joyce, South Dakota
Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts
Jocelyn Schiller, North Dakota State
All-Summit League Honorable Mention Emani Bennett, Kansas City
Emilee Fox, South Dakota State
Mackenzie Hughes, North Dakota
Anna Trusty, Oral Roberts
Elise Turrubiates, South Dakota
All-Defensive Team Ari Gordon, Oral Roberts
Avery Koenen, North Dakota State
Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Alyssa Sand, St. Thomas
Avril Smith, Omaha
All-Newcomer Team Jada Hood, St. Thomas
Mackenzie Hughes, North Dakota
Molly Joyce, South Dakota
Anna Trusty, Oral Roberts
Elise Turrubiates, South Dakota
All-Freshman Team Karrington Asp, North Dakota State
Kayten Donley, Oral Roberts
Regan Juenemann, Omaha
Avril Smith, Omaha
Hadley Thul, South Dakota State

Postseason

Summit League tournament

Main article: 2026 Summit League women's basketball tournament

All 9 teams qualified for the Summit League tournament. It was held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from March 4 to March 8, 2026.

First Round
March 4
Summit League Network 		Quarterfinals
March 5 & 6
Summit League Network 		Semifinals
March 7
Summit League Network 		Championship
March 8
CBS Sports Network
1 North Dakota State 87
8 Omaha 49 8 Omaha 37
9 North Dakota 39 1 North Dakota State 63
5 St. Thomas 51
4 Oral Roberts 54
5 St. Thomas 81
1 North Dakota State 51
2 South Dakota State 64
2 South Dakota State 75
7 Kansas City 61
2 South Dakota State 74
3 South Dakota 59
3 South Dakota 61
6 Denver 50

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

Only South Dakota State was selected to participate in the tournament as the conference's automatic bid.

Seed Region School First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
No. 11 Sacramento Regional 4 South Dakota State vs No. 6 Washington – — — —
1 Bid W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

WBIT

Main article: 2026 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament

North Dakota State was selected to participate in the tournament as an automatic bid, since they did not make the NCAA tournament as the Summit League's regular season champion.

School First round Second round Quarterfinal Semifinal Championship
North Dakota State vs Chattanooga — — —
1 Bid W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

WNIT

Main article: 2026 Women's National Invitation Tournament

South Dakota was selected to participate in the tournament as an at-large bid.

School First round Second round Super 16 Great 8 Fab Four Championship
South Dakota TBD — — — —
1 Bid W-L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–0 (–)

References

  1. ^ "West Coast Conference Expands Footprint With Addition of the University of Denver" (Press release). West Coast Conference. October 31, 2025. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  2. ^ "Jackrabbits selected to repeat #SummitWBB crown in 2025-26". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. October 7, 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  3. ^ "St. Thomas vs. Iowa State". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  4. ^ "Oral Roberts vs. Oklahoma State". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  5. ^ "Kansas City vs. Oklahoma". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  6. ^ "North Carolina vs. South Dakota State". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  7. ^ "Omaha vs. Nebraska". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  8. ^ "Texas vs. South Dakota State". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  9. ^ "2025-2026 Women's Basketball Overall Statistics". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  10. ^ "Summit League sets 2025-26 national basketball television schedule". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. October 20, 2025. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
  11. ^ "Mallory Bernhard to step down, Dennis Hutter named next head coach". fightinghawks.com. North Dakota Fighting Hawks. March 24, 2025. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  12. ^ "Omaha Athletics announces women's basketball leadership change". omavs.com. Omaha Mavericks. April 22, 2025. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  13. ^ "Jamie Carey named Omaha women's basketball head coach". omavs.com. Omaha Mavericks. May 4, 2025. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  14. ^ Westerman, Ethan (March 24, 2025). "New era: Kelsi Musick introduced as Arkansas women's basketball coach". wholehogsports.com. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  15. ^ "ORU Athletics Announces Cophie Anderson as new Head Women's Basketball Coach". oruathletics.com. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. March 31, 2025. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  16. ^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Peak Performers of the Week". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  17. ^ "SDSU's Meyer garners season-opening #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 11, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  18. ^ "SDSU's Meyer corrals second #SummitWBB weekly honor of season". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 18, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  19. ^ "NDSU's Koenen nets latest #SummitWBB weekly award". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 25, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  20. ^ "SDSU's Meyer picks up another #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 2, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  21. ^ "SDSU's Meyer claims fourth #SummitWBB weekly accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 9, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  22. ^ "NDSU's Koenen garners her second #SummitWBB weekly honor of the season". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  23. ^ "NDSU's Koenen collects back-to-back Kwik Star #SummitWBB weekly awards". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 23, 2025. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  24. ^ "KC's Trotter earns #SummitWBB weekly accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 30, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  25. ^ "NDSU's Koenen nets her fourth #SummitWBB weekly honor this season". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. January 6, 2026. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  26. ^ "NDSU's Koenen claims fifth #SummitWBB weekly accolade of the season". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. January 13, 2026. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  27. ^ "NDSU's Koenen secures her third consecutive #SummitWBB weekly award". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. January 20, 2026. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
  28. ^ "SDSU's Meyer tabbed with her fifth #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. January 27, 2026. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  29. ^ "USD's Robles lands first #SummitWBB weekly award". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. February 3, 2026. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  30. ^ "NDSU's Koenen earns latest #SummitWBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. February 10, 2026. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  31. ^ "NDSU's Koenen sets record with eighth #SummitWBB weekly accolade". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. February 17, 2026. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
  32. ^ "SDSU's Meyer grabs her sixth #SummitWBB weekly award of the season". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. February 24, 2026. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  33. ^ "SDSU's Meyer corrals final #SummitWBB weekly accolade of the season". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. March 2, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  34. ^ "NDSU's Koenen claims #SummitWB Player of the Year Honors". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. March 3, 2026. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.