DENVER, Colo. – South Dakota women’s basketball relied its defense in a 53-42 win over Denver Thursday night in Denver.
South Dakota needed a dominant second half defensively to pick up a win, and the Coyotes did just that. After allowing 15 points in the first and 14 in the second quarter, the Coyotes held Denver to just 13 points in the second half of the game to turn a four-point deficit into an 11 point win.
Angelina Robles, the former Pioneer, led the Coyotes with 14 points, including six at the free throw line. Molly Joyce added 10 points, all in the first three quarters, including a five-point spurt of her own to end the third.
When Patience Williams took the center circle for the opening jump, the Coyotes lead 1-0, as Denver was assessed a technical foul due to a technical issue prior to tipoff, and Molly Joyce made the free throw to give USD a lead before a second had come off the clock. USD got off to a hot start, leading 7-5 before an 8-0 run for the Pioneers made it 13-7 Denver. A Jenna Hopp layup cut the lead to two before Denver made a basket to make it 15-11 to end the first.
A quick 8-0 run, including back-to-back three-pointers from Tori Schlagel and Elise Turrubiates, gave USD a 19-15 lead two minutes into the second quarter. From there the two side traded baskets, with USD building a 25-21 with 3:53 to play. Denver closed the quarter on their second 8-0 run of the game to take a 29-25 lead.
The defensive struggle continued through the third quarter, as neither side reached the 40 point mark after three. The Coyotes opened the quarter on a 7-2 run, capped by a Jenna Hopp triple to give USD a 32-31 lead around the halfway point of the third.
Over the final four minutes of the third, USD outscored Denver 7-1 to lead 39-37 after with the last five points being scored by Joyce, who was the first Coyote to reach double figures with 10 points after three quarters of play.
South Dakota carried that momentum into the fourth quarter as the run stretched to 17-4 with the Coyotes taking a 51-40 lead into the final three minutes of the game, the first double digit lead of the game for either team. A minute later, Denver cut the lead back to nine, 51-42. Ultimately the Coyotes got the lead back to 11 with a Turrubiates jumper to take the 11-point win.
While Robles and Joyce were the lone two Coyotes in double figures scoring wise, Patience Williams racked up 15 rebounds to go with her six points. Elise Turrubiates nad Jenna Hopp added seven points each, and both players made their only three-point attempts.
South Dakota’s 53 points is a new season low, and they tied a season-high with 21 turnovers, but USD picked up their first win of the season when scoring less than 60 points this season and first win this season when trailing at the half.
South Dakota entered play Thursday with the second-best field goal percentage defense in the country at 33.1%, and the Coyotes held Denver to 30.8% shooting on the game. The Pioneers also converted just 16.7% from three. South Dakota converted 37.3% from the field, and made 3-of-8 from three.
The Coyotes are back in action Saturday at Oral Roberts. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla.
NOTABLES
• South Dakota is 18-6 on the season, 7-4 on the road, and 8-2 in Summit League play.
• The Coyotes are 9-0 when allowing less than 50 points in a game this season, and are 1-4 when trailing at halftime.
• Angelina Robles led the Coyotes in scoring, totaling 14 points.
• The Coyotes outrebounded their opponent for a 17th time, improving to 16-1 on the season when doing so.
• Patience Williams tallied 15 rebounds to go with six points.
• Molly Joyce added 10 points.
• The three Coyotes who made three-pointers all went 1-for-1 from beyond the arc: Elise Turrubiates, Jenna Hopp, Tori Schlagel.
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