BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Top-ranked South Dakota State's three-point shooting proved to be too much for the No. 12 South Dakota women's basketball team to overcome, as SDSU stayed undefeated with a 86-69 win Thursday night in front of 7,814 fans at Frost Arena.
The Jacks connected on 15-of-33 shots from behind the three-point arc to improve to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in NCC play, while the Coyotes dropped to 13-2 and 3-1 in the conference.
In the loss, junior forward Mandy Koupal and senior forward Julia Frie both tallied Koupal, a native of Wagner, S.D., had 30 points of 13-of-21 shooting, while Frie (Byron, Minn.) had 21 points, which included hitting 4-of-4 from downtown.
In the first half, the Coyotes fell behind by as many as 13, trailing the Jackrabbits 32-19 with 6:03 to go in the opening stanza.
USD nearly erased the SDSU advantage by halftime, outscoring the Jacks 19-8 over the final six minutes of the first half to cut the lead to 40-38. The South Dakota run was paced by two three-point baskets by Frie.
SDSU built its lead back up to 13 at 65-52 with 10 minutes to go in the game thanks to its continued hot shooting from behind the arc. But USD answered again with a 14-5 run over the next four minutes, cutting the SDSU advantage, 70-66.
The Coyotes went cold over the final six minutes of the game, as SDSU outscored USD, 16-3.
SDSU was led in scoring by forward Brenda Davis, who had 20 points. Three other Jackrabbits scored in double figures.
USD's only other double figure scorer was senior forward Heather Nelson (Yankton, S.D.), who had 13 points.
For the game, South Dakota was 25-of-58 from the floor (43.1 percent) and 5-of-15 from behind the arc (33.3 percent). SDSU was 30-of-65 from the field (46.2 percent) and hit 45.5 percent of its three-pointers. The 15 three-point field goals for South Dakota State was a season-high for a USD opponent. The Jacks dominated the rebound battle, grabbing 45 boards to the Coyotes 29.
USD returns to action Saturday night at the DakotaDome against Augustana. The game, which will be televised live by KELO-TV, will start at 6 p.m.