Selland, South Dakota State cruise in Summit League women's tournament opener
Mar. 5—SIOUX FALLS — There was no first-round letdown for South Dakota State's women's basketball team on Saturday.
A year after being bounced in the quarterfinal round for the first time, SDSU cruised past Denver in its Summit League basketball tournament opener over Denver, 86-59, thanks in large part to the player
they didn't have last year
, Myah Selland.
Selland, who missed the end of last season with a knee injury, scored 26 points and helped the Jackrabbits (22-8) pull away from a hapless Pioneers squad in the opening quarter of the game, driving SDSU to a 16-3 start in the first quarter and the Jacks' 14th straight victory.
The 6-foot-1 redshirt junior from Letcher, who was a 56% 3-point shooter in the regular season, picked up where she left off in Saturday's tournament opener, hitting 4-of-6 from deep for the game.
For the game, Selland finished with 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Paiton Burckhard had 18 points and eight rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting for the Jackrabbits, who had 15 points from Tori Nelson.
SDSU shot 56% as a team over the first three quarters, including 62.5% in the third frame to help build a 32-point lead.
Denver (10-20) was led by Uju Ezeudu's 25 points.
SDSU awaits the winner of fourth-seeded Oral Roberts and fifth-seeded North Dakota in Monday's semifinal round at 12:30 p.m. at the Premier Center.
