VERMILLION, S.D. - Led by 20 points from Bridget Yoerger, The University of South Dakota women's basketball team won for the 27th consecutive time with a 66-55 win over Colorado State-Pueblo in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs before 2,570 in attendance at the DakotaDome.

The Coyotes, which improved to 29-1 this season, advanced to the North Central Region semifinals on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the DakotaDome. They will face the winner of the Fort-Lewis/Nebraska-Kearney game which is the final game of the first round on Friday night.

South Dakota, which improved to 4-7 in NCAA Division II tournament games, won for the 20th straight time at home. The Coyotes, ranked third in NCAA Division II, won a first-round playoff game for the first time since the 2002-03 season (Concordia, St. Paul, 83-68.).

Yoerger (Jr., Hinton, Iowa) hit 8-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-8 free throws for 20 points while also grabbing eight rebounds. Yoerger scored 20 points for the second time this season and reached double-digits for the 61st time in her career. She also had four steals and two blocked shots in 31 minutes of work.

USD also received a career-high 16 points from freshman Amber Hegge (Crofton, Neb.), who also had seven rebounds, four blocked shots, two assists and a steal. With her four blocked shots, she has 48 this season which moved her into second place on the USD season chart (Jean Misterek, 45, 1986-87).

Senior shooting guard Jeana Hoffman (Sr., Mitchell, S.D.) also reached double-digits in points with 11 points. She also had five rebounds and three assists. Hoffman made three, three-point field goals for the 24th time this season. She also tied Heather Nelson (1999-2003) for second on the career three-point chart with 180.

The Coyotes had a tough shooting first half by making 12-of-33 field goals for 36.4 percent, including just 4-of-15 from three-point range. The U finished at 41.7 percent on 25-of-60 shooting. USD was 13-of-27 for 48.1 percent in the second half. The Coyotes made just 6-of-27 three point shots for 22.2 percent for the game. They were 10-of-19 from the foul line for 52.6 percent.

Colorado State was led in scoring by Mary Rehfeld with 22 points. She made 4-of-11 shots from three-point range and was 8-of-16 from the field overall. Lindsay Black added 11 points for the ThunderWolves, which shot 40 percent for the game on 22-of-55 shooting. They were 6-of-19 for 31.6 percent from three-point range.

The ThunderWolves jumped out quickly against South Dakota, grabbing a 16-10 lead at the 10:20 mark of the first half. USD had a 6-0 run to tie the game at 16-16 at the 8:40 mark. From that point, USD had a 10-2 run for a 26-18 lead at the 4:17 mark of the half. After CSU closed the lead to 26-22, the Coyotes closed the half on a 9-1 flurry, including five points in the final minute by Jeana Hoffman. The U, which received 13 bench points in the first half, led 35-23 at the break. Hegge's 10 points in the half helped the Coyotes through a series of difficult scoring stretches.

Early in the second half, USD opened up a 42-23 lead with 17:23 to play. However, the ThunderWolves battled back and cut the lead to 42-30 at the 15:03 mark. Colorado State moved within 46-37 at the 10:59 mark after Rehfeld scored on a jumper.

Ashley Robinette (Sr., South Sioux City, Neb.), who had eight points and six rebounds, hit back-to-back three-pointers as the Coyotes opened up a 59-42 lead with 6:34 left in the game. Colorado State sliced the lead to 63-55 with 2:45 to play in the game but that was as close they would get to USD. A foul shot by Jenna Hoffman (Sr., Mitchell, S.D.) closed out the scoring with 58 seconds to play.