Orem, Utah - Sophomore forward Amber Hegge posted 21 points and the University of South Dakota women's basketball team opened the second half with a decisive 11-0 run to claim a 57-49 win over NJIT in the first round of the Great West Conference Tournament on Thursday in the McKay Center.

"It was nice to get that first win," USD Head Coach Ryun Williams said. "It was a scary game for us with it being the third game against them in two weeks. We expected a close game. We got timely shooting and had a couple big runs. The big momentum switch was at the start of the second half."

The fourth-seeded Coyotes improved to 15-15 on the season, while the fifth-seeded Highlanders dropped to 11-18. The victory advanced USD to face No. 1 seed North Dakota at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow.

Hegge (Crofton, Neb.) knocked down 7-of-8 attempts from the field and went 7-of-11 from the free-throw line, as she scored 10 of USD's final 15 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds and had three steals. Senior forward Kara Iverson (Yankton, S.D.) scored 10 points and had a team-high four assists, while junior guard Abby Kinder (Granger, Ind.) had nine points. USD shot 54 percent (21-of-39) from the floor and 44 percent (7-of-16) beyond the arc, and held NJIT to 33 percent (15-of-45) and 27 percent (4-of-15).

NJIT took an early advantage with the first two baskets and five early turnovers for the Coyotes, but a Kinder three got USD on the board at the 16:45 mark. Hegge added two free throws to pull within one at 6-5, before the Coyotes went on a 10-2 run to go up by seven. Hegge converted an old fashion three-point play, Iverson and senior center Jasmine Mosley (Bellevue, Neb.) hit buckets and Kinder nailed another trey to cap the spurt and put USD in front 15-8 with 11:16 left.

The Highlanders cut the lead to three at 15-12 at the 7:50 mark, but another eight-point USD spurt courtesy of threes from junior guard Teresa Case (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and sophomore guard Annie Roche (Vermillion, S.D.) ran the advantage back to 23-12. Once again NJIT closed the gap to claw within 25-21 going into halftime. Hegge notched seven points in the first half, while Kinder had six and Roche added five. USD shot 45 percent (9-of-20) from the field in the opening frame, including 31 percent (4-of-13) behind the arc, while holding the Highlanders to 29 percent (6-of-21) and just one three.

The Coyotes caught fire to start the second half by hitting their first three attempts from downtown en route to an 11-0 run. Iverson and Kinder connected from deep before Hegge added a layup and Iverson knocked down another trey, as USD went up 36-21 at the 17:20 mark. The two squad exchanged baskets over the next six minutes, until NJIT was able to cut the lead to single digits at 42-35 with 9:57 left. The seven-point deficit was as close as the Highlanders could get though, as Hegge scored 10 of USD's final 15 points to close out the contest.

"At the end of the game, you can't really relax," Hegge said. "You can't play scared. We did what we could do to extend the lead and keep playing aggressively."

South Dakota split its two contests with North Dakota this season. The Coyotes lost a 54-51 contest in the DakotaDome on Jan. 16, but notched a 72-57 win at UND on Jan. 23.

"They're pretty familiar with us," Iverson said. "We can expect we'll see their zone again. They play it very aggressively, but I think we've grown in our ability to attack that kind of a defense since we last saw them."