VERMILLION, S.D. - Seniors Amber Hegge and Annie Roche combined for 35 points to help the South Dakota women's basketball team top Drake, 61-53, in the opening round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament Thursday night at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D. With the win, the Coyotes improved to 23-7 on the year, while Drake finished the year at 18-16.

South Dakota will now play host to Pac 12 foe Colorado (19-13) at 7 p.m. on Monday in the second round of the WNIT. It will be the first time the Coyotes have hosted an opponent from a BCS conference in women's basketball since moving to Division I.

Hegge (Crofton, Neb.) finished with 20 points, while Roche (Vermillion, S.D.) had 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Junior Tempestt Wilson (Elk River, Minn.) added 13 points, while junior Alexis Yackley (Onida, S.D.) added eight. Senior Jodie Boss (Columbus, Neb.) had five points, a team-high 10 rebounds and four blocks. Hegge and Wilson also shared the team lead with three assists.

The Coyotes shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47), their third-highest total of the season, while holding Drake to 32.8 percent (20-of-61). South Dakota had a 36-20 edge in points in the paint in the game. More importantly, they held the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Rachael Hackbarth, to 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting - three points under her season average.

South Dakota trailed by as many as seven in the first half but a key run over the first 10:18 of the second half allowed the Coyotes to build a nine-point lead. The Coyotes held Drake to just six points during that span while scoring 18 themselves in building a 45-36 lead with 9:32 left.

Drake cut the gap to 51-48 when Amber Wollschlager drained a three with 4:43 left. However, Roche delivered a momentum-grabbing three as the shot clock expired to push the lead back to 54-48, and the Coyote lead never dropped below four the rest of the way.

The Coyotes trailed almost the entire first half, aside from a 45-second stretch where the game was tied at 4-4. Drake build a 26-19 lead with 3:45 left in the half, but the Coyotes stayed close, and a Roche layup cut the lead to 30-27 with three seconds left in the first half - and that was the score at the break.

Yackley added two assists and a team-high two steals.

Tickets for Monday's game vs. Colorado are $15 for adults (reserved, lower chairback and courtside) and $5 for youth and USD students. Fans can order tickets by calling the USD Ticket Office at (605) 677-5959.