VERMILLION, S.D. -- Bridget Yoerger and Shannon Daly recorded career-bests in leading the South Dakota Women's Basketball Team (8-1) to a 71-55 nonconference win over Wayne State (6-4) on Saturday night before 2,203 at the DakotaDome.

South Dakota has now won eight of its nine games to open the 2006-07 campaign, which is the best start for a USD squad since the 2003-04 team opened 15-1.

Daly, a junior point guard from Groton, S.D., had career-highs in points with 14 and rebounds with seven while dealing out five assists and recording three steals. Yoerger, a sophomore forward from Hinton, Iowa, had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Yoerger had nine defensive boards and six offensive rebounds. Jeana Hoffman, a junior guard from Mitchell, S.D., had 12 points for the Coyotes. Hoffman hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and also had four steals and five rebounds.

South Dakota struggled shooting by hitting 22-of-66 field goals for 33.3 percent. However, the Coyotes owned a 47-25 rebounding advantage, including a 25-4 edge in offensive rebounds. USD's work on the glass produced a 21-4 advantage over Wayne State in second chance points. The Coyotes made 8-of-24 three point field goals for 33.3 percent and hit 19-of-22 free throws for 86.4 percent.

Wayne State received a game-high 21 points from Erin McCormick as well as 14 points and 10 rebounds from Kylee McGill. The Wildcats made 50 percent of its field goals, connecting of 22-of-44 shots. WSU was 5-of-14 from three-point range and 6-of-12 from the foul line.

The Coyotes forced the Wildcats into 19 turnovers which created a 25-12 points off turnovers advantage for USD.

Wayne State opened quickly by jumping to a 6-0 lead at the 17:59 mark of the first half. The Coyotes responded with a 13-0 run for a 13-6 advantage at the 13:48 mark after a jumper by Maggie Youngberg (Yankton, S.D.).

Lay-ups by McGill (9:36) and Amanda Covington (8:59) provided the Wildcats with its largest lead of the night at 19-15. USD answered with an 8-2 run to grab a 27-21 lead at the 5:49 mark of the first half after two foul shots by Natalie Carda (Beresford, S.D.). Carda finished with seven points and four rebounds for the game.

Two foul shots by Ashley Bjorkman (Vermillion, S.D.) helped USD take a 31-24 lead at the 3:40 mark. USD led 33-26 at halftime. Yoerger led USD with 11 points and eight rebounds in the first half of play. McGill paced Wayne State with 12 points.

The Wildcats opened the second half on an 8-0 run to grab a 34-33 lead at the 18:15 mark after McCormick scored on a driving lay-up.

USD settled down and built the lead to 43-34 on a 10-0 run that was capped by Bjorkman's three-point shot at the 14:25 mark of the second half. A three-point shot by Lauren Gustafson of Wayne State cut the Coyotes' lead to 43-39 at the 13:27 mark. Once again, USD ran off 10 straight points for a 53-39 lead at the 10:26 mark after Yoerger scored inside.

Wayne State cut the lead to 56-49 at the 7:38 mark of the second half after McCormick scored inside. From that point, USD went on an 11-2 run to grab a 67-51 advantage at the 2:44 mark after a three-pointer by Jenna Hoffman (Mitchell, S.D.). The Coyotes grabbed its largest lead of the game at 71-53 when Youngberg connected on a pair of free throws with 53 seconds to play in the game. A lay-up by McCormick with one second left closed the scoring on USD's 71-55 win.

Next for the Coyotes is a game with 13th-ranked Northern State (9-1) on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the DakotaDome.