VERMILLION, S.D. - Senior Amber Hegge and junior Tempestt Wilson combined for 39 points, but the South Dakota women's basketball team fell short against in-state rival South Dakota State Monday, losing a hard-fought 59-51 contest in Summit League action in Brookings, S.D. The Coyotes fell to 10-6 overall and 2-5 in the Summit League, while SDSU improved to 12-7 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

Hegge (Crofton, Neb.) had her second-straight double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds to go with a team-high four assists, while Wilson (Elk River, Minn.) tied a season-high with 19 points. Senior Jodie Boss (Columbus, Neb.) added eight points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

South Dakota shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the field and held SDSU to 36.7 percent (18-of-49).

"We guarded extremely well," South Dakota head coach Ryun Williams said. "We didn't miss too many assignments. The ones we did miss, the Jackrabbits made us pay."

The Coyotes got off to a strong start, opening the game on an 8-1 run over the first 5:51. Their defense held the Jackrabbits without a field goal for the first 5:08 of the game. Wilson opened the game with a three while Hegge added four points.

SDSU cut the lead to 8-4, but Wilson answered with a three to make it 11-4 with 13:59 left in the first half.

The Jackrabbits came back with a 12-1 run over 4:30 to push into the lead at 16-12. The Coyotes came back by scoring six of the next eight points - with Wilson accounting for four - to tie the game at 18-18 with 7:12 left in the half.

Wilson was the offensive catalyst in the first half for the Coyotes, accounting for 12 of the Coyotes' first 20 points.

South Dakota pushed the lead back to 24-21 on a Hegge putback with 1:54 left in the half. The Coyotes took a 26-23 lead into halftime.

"We did a nice job maintaining the right tempo," Williams said. "We wanted it to be as low of a possession game as possible. We needed to control the tempo. For the most part, we did a good job of that."

In addition to Wilson's 12 first-half points, Hegge added 10 points while also collecting eight rebounds. The Coyotes shot 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from the field in the first half while holding the Jackrabbits to 32 percent (8-of-25) shooting.

The Jackrabbits opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 31-26 lead.

South Dakota kept things close as Roche hit a jumper to bring the Coyotes within 34-32 with 14:20 left. However, the Jackrabbits went on a 9-0 run to push the lead to double digits at 43-32 with 11:36 left.

The Coyotes came back, however with a 10-2 run over their own over the next 4:32 to cut the lead to 45-42. Wilson and Boss each had four points during that run.

SDSU scored five straight to extend the lead to 50-42, but the Coyotes came back with five of their own, on a layup by Hegge and a three-pointer by Wilson to climb within 50-47 with 3:11 left.

"Tempestt was good tonight," Williams said. "We needed that. It was nice to see her play with that good, aggressive mindset."

However, the Coyotes' valiant comeback effort would fall short. SDSU scored the next five points to push the lead to 55-47 with 1:07 left, and the Coyotes got no closer than six the rest of the way.

Junior guard Alexis Yackley (Onida, S.D.) added three steals and two assists. Wilson also had two assists.

The Coyotes return home for Summit League action Saturday against Western Illinois. The game, part of a women's/men's doubleheader, begins at 5 p.m. at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.