USD Women Hold Off SDSU

BROOKINGS — South Dakota held off South Dakota State for a 67-61 victory in a matchup of teams undefeated in Summit League play on Thursday night at Frost Arena.

The Coyotes led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and took a 54-46 advantage into the fourth. Ciara Duffy’s 3-pointer made it 57-46 with 9:24 showing on the clock.

The Jackrabbits rallied with 10 consecutive points – including six by Macy Miller – to pull within 57-56 with 5:25 remaining.

Kate Liveringhouse, who scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the first half, made her only bucket of the second with 5:12 left to make it 59-56.

SDSU twice pulled within two points after that, but the Coyotes always had the answer.

Duffy’s layup put the Coyotes on top 61-57 with 4:02 to go and Jaycee Bradley’s bucket with 2:01 left gave the visitors a 63-57 cushion.

"I thought that certainly was a hard-fought, intense battle and we feel real fortunate to come out on top," said USD coach Dawn Plitzuweit. "I thought we started the game really well. Kate (Liveringhouse) really took advantage of maybe some over helping and really got us feeling comfortable; she knocked down a lot of shots for us. I thought South Dakota State really did a nice job in the second half of continuing to take it at us. I thought they had a great run. We were fortunate enough to kind of weather the storm and come out on top.

"But it’s an opportunity for us to learn and to grow because offensively, our half-court offense wasn’t able to create as many good opportunities as we like it to. South Dakota State’s really, really tough defensively and that got them back into the game. To our players’ credit, I think we’re a much better defensive team than we were last year and ultimately that kind of kept us in the game when our offense wasn’t scoring as efficiently as we wanted it to."

The teams were tied at 19-all after a quarter, before the Coyotes scored the first 12 points of the second period.

The Jackrabbits chipped away the remainder of the half, pulling within 39-34 at the break. The Coyotes came out strong in the third, moving ahead 49-36 3 minutes into the stanza.

Duffy totaled 17 points and Allison Arens 13 to go with eight rebounds and five assists. South Dakota improved to 16-5 (7-0) heading into a matchup at Denver on Saturday at 2 p.m.

"It was a good win for (USD), they played really well," said SDSU coach Aaron Johnston. "They hit a lot big shots throughout the game, started off really well. Kate (Liveringhouse) had a really nice beginning to the game and really settled them in, and then they hit some just big shots throughout. Even as we made a run there late, it seemed like every time we got close they hit a big shot. They did a great job getting the ball to the basket and they did a nice job on us defensively.

"So, overall, just a good win for them. They were a little bit sharper, I thought, throughout than we were."

Miller paced SDSU with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists. Madison Guebert added 17 points before fouling out late.

 

USD 82, Denver 60

USD Sports Information

DENVER–South Dakota’s trio of starting guards paced the Coyote offense in an 82-60 road win over Denver at Magness Arena on Saturday.

South Dakota (17-5, 8-0 Summit) extends its winning streak to 11 games overall and 11-straight against Denver (12-11, 3-5 Summit). The Coyotes’ 11-game streak is tied for fifth in the nation.

"I thought our defense and rebounding set the tone for us," said USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. "Our players made adjustments quickly in the face of adversity and that was a positive take away from today’s game."

USD junior guards Allison Arens and Jaycee Bradley scored 17 points a piece while sophomore guard Ciara Duffy added 16 more. Arens added six rebounds, two assists and a steal. Bradley was 5-of-9 from the floor in the game and grabbed three steals. Duffy grabbed a team-high eight boards. She recorded her first collegiate double-double the last time the Coyotes faced the Pioneers.

Denver guards Claire Gritt and Ciera Morgan were the only Pioneers in double figures. Gritt tallied 15 points on 50 percent (6-of-12) shooting while Morgan added 10 points and six assists. Pioneer forward Jordyn Alt tallied a game-high nine rebounds.

South Dakota used a 14-2 run spanning from the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the second to jump out to a 25-12 lead. The Coyotes were up 42-23 at the halftime horn, outscoring the Pioneers 20-6 in the paint.

Bradley led the Coyotes at the half with 14 points, making 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Denver kept pace with South Dakota through the first seven minutes of the third quarter. The Pioneers matched the Coyotes with each scoring 17, until an old-fashioned 3-point play by Arens kicked off a 9-0 run by USD to end the period.

The Coyotes led by a game-high 26 points, 66-40, through the end of three. South Dakota finished off the game with an 82-60 victory, holding the Pioneers to 10 points beneath their season average.

South Dakota shot 48.4 percent (30-of-62) in the game and outshot the Pioneers 38-22 in the paint.

Denver entered the game at the top of the Summit in rebounding, but the Coyotes outrebounded the Pioneers 42-27 on Saturday with 12 offensive boards.

South Dakota returns home to host defending league champion Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.