SIOUX FALLS — Sunday’s Summit League tournament title game was a battle between the old guard — 12-time champion South Dakota State, and a new challenger — top-seeded 0-time tournament champion North Dakota State.
But it was also a battle of two of the best post players in women’s college basketball.
In one corner, South Dakota State senior Brooklyn Meyer, a three-time All-Summit League first team pick, the 2024 player of the year and this year’s league scoring champion.
In the other corner, North Dakota State junior Avery Koenen, this year’s Summit League player of the year, defensive player of the year and the key figure in NDSU snapping SDSU’s 67-game Summit League winning streak back in January and their five-year streak of winning the regular season conference title.
When the Bison won that game in Brookings back on Jan. 17, Meyer had 24 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots, while Koenen had 26 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.
When the Jacks exacted revenge in Fargo on Feb. 25, Meyer had 18 points and 11 rebounds while Koenen had 11 points and five boards.
South Dakota State’s Brooklyn Meyer (31) looks to score around North Dakota State’s Avery Koenen (22) during the Summit League women’s basketball tournament championship game on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
Meyer led the league in scoring and field goal shooting while ranking third in rebounds, sixth in assists and second in blocks.
Koenen was first in rebounding, second in scoring and field goal percentage and third in blocks.
They were the only two serious candidates for the league’s player of the year award, and the vote was surely close. Koenen got the nod, but they were essentially on even ground.
Sunday’s game would decide who walked away with the final upper hand.
For Meyer, it would be her final game in her adopted home state of South Dakota, one last chance for the Larchwood, Iowa, native to get the best of Koenen and the Bison. To make it a perfect 4-for-4 winning the conference tournament and reaching the NCAA’s in her career.
To say, Avery, you can have the MVP award. I’ll take the team trophy.
By the end of the afternoon, Meyer had emerged victorious. 26 points, nine rebounds (six on offense) and four blocked shots. Clutch free throws down the stretch. Physical baskets with the league’s defensive player of the year right in her face.
The Jacks pulled away late for a 64-51 win, and Meyer was the obvious choice for tournament MVP.
It was an epic battle between two women’s basketball greats.
Scenes from the Summit League women’s basketball tournament championship game between South Dakota State and North Dakota State on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
SDSU had the edge early, with Meyer leading the way. She scored four baskets in a row in the first quarter, the fourth a turnaround jumper from about 17 feet, the edge of her range. By halftime Meyer had 16 points and seven rebounds. Koenen, battling an injury that had her wearing a boot when off the court this weekend, had just four points and four rebounds at the break, but she’d found a way to make her presence felt with five assists. It seemed a foregone conclusion that she’d make a bigger impact in the second half.
A 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer allowed the Bison to go into half trailing by just four instead of seven, and they then opened the third quarter with a 7-1 spurt that had the Jacks looking confused. SDSU coach Aaron Johnston called a timeout.
It’s now or never, he told them. Meyer looked up and saw there were five minutes left in the third quarter, which, she realized, meant there were 15 minutes left in her Summit League career. Time to empty out the tank.
SDSU center Brooklyn Meyer is presented with the Summit League tournament MVP award by commissioner Josh Fenton after the Jackrabbits’ win over North Dakota State on Sunday, March 8, 2026 at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
She went right at Koenen, on offense and defense, and the Jacks put the Bison away. Meyer had gone just 2-of-8 from the free throw line in the first three quarters. In the fourth, she went 6-for-6. Meyer never left the floor in that final stanza, and SDSU outscored the Bison 20-10.
Koenen finished the game 4-of-12 from the floor for 12 points. She had a game-high 13 rebounds and seven assists, but NDSU’s entire offense found itself stuck all game. They scored 30 points fewer than their average in conference play. They shot just 32 percent and were killed on the boards (45-31). When the Bison won in Brookings they outrebounded SDSU 38-29 and beat them 17-0 in second-chance points. Meyer made sure that didn’t happen again.
“It’s pretty amazing, those are two elite players,” Johnston said of Meyer and Koenen. “They could play really for almost any team in the country and be really good. And to have those two playing for those stakes, you know, that moment is quite a show. And they both had their moments where they had probably an upper hand there. There was quite a back and forth. And I would say Brooklyn really found another gear, you know, somewhere in the middle of our conference season. She’s always been good. And she just found another gear.”
South Dakota State seniors Ellie Colbeck, Brooklyn Meyer and Madison Mathiowetz celebrate winning a fourth consecutive Summit League women’s basketball tournament championship on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
The Jacks outscored the Bison 21-5 at the line. NDSU was just 3-of-14 from the floor in the fourth quarter. It would be disingenuous to give all of the credit to those numbers to Meyer, especially on a day when Hadley Thul (10 points, seven rebounds), Hilary Behrens (seven points, nine rebounds) and fellow seniors Madison Mathiowetz (six points, six rebounds, three assists) and Ellie Colbeck (eight points in 23 minutes, the most she’s played since the conference opener on Jan. 1) gave the kind of supporting cast performances that perfectly complement a superstar.
But this was Meyer’s day. All eyes from the crowd of almost 8,000 were on her, expecting her to lead the Jacks to knock off the top-seeded Bison, and she knew it.
Meyer responded to that pressure by delivering in every way she could have.
How many athletes are able to do that? To be their very best when the stakes are highest, against the best competition, in their last game in front of their fans?
Meyer did exactly that.
Johnston became emotional talking about how Colbeck stepped up after filling a bit role for most of the season. Colbeck seemed thrilled to contribute, and thrilled to be seated next to Meyer in the postgame press conference wearing a Summit League Champions baseball cap. She’s seen some terrific performances in her career at SDSU, and didn’t hesitate when asked what it was like to have a front-row seat to the Brooklyn Meyer show.
South Dakota State seniors Ellie Colbeck, Brooklyn Meyer and Madison Mathiowetz walk out of the postgame press conference following a 64-51 win over North Dakota State in the Summit League women’s basketball tournament championship game on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
David Bordewyk / S.D. NewsMedia Association
“Brooklyn has just been insane all four years, honestly,” Colbeck said while Meyer blushed. “I remember her coming off the bench as a freshman and scoring against 6’7 Kamilla Cardoso from South Carolina, and I knew from that moment, man, she’s going to make a big wave in the Summit League. And she did. She proved that. She’s insane.”
Said Bison coach Jory Collins of Meyer: “She’s just a fantastic player. She’s physical. We do our best to front her and try to keep it out of there, but she’s an animal. She has been her entire career. She’s one of the best players in the country. Her physicality and ability to finish with both hands and use angles and seal is just really high level. She’s a tough matchup for everybody.”
Insane. Animal. You know you’re good when those are the kinds of words teammates and opponents are using to describe you.
Brooklyn Meyer and Madison Mathiowetz share a moment during the postgame celebration after their Summit League tournament championship win over North Dakota State on March 9, 2026 at the Premier Center.
Dave Bordwyk/SDNMA
Meyer’s coach doesn’t tend to use labels when talking about his best players. Johnston has coached some of the best in Summit League history in his quarter century leading the Jackrabbits, and came as close as he ever has to anointing one of them as the best of the best on Sunday.
“To go out there and get 26 against that defense, and not just one-on-one, I mean, they had a lot of people around her,” Johnston said. “It was not easy to get 26. So you see her talent and her ability. This isn’t taking anything away from anybody — I don’t know that I’ve seen another player put together three )better) years in our league. That was a remarkable run by Brooklyn. What she’s done for our program, what she’s done probably for our league in terms of exposure and awareness. I’m not sure I’ve seen another player do that. So I’m really proud of her. I think a lot of people are. And she carries a pretty big load out there.”
And she’ll get to carry it at least one more time. Into a fourth consecutive NCAA tournament.