Jan. 25, 2014

VERMILLION, S.D. – Lisa Loeffler scored all 17 of her points in the first half to vault the South Dakota women's basketball team to a 42-16 halftime lead as the Coyotes cruised past Omaha 75-51 to snap a four game losing streak on Saturday in the DakotaDome.

Loeffler was 7-of-13 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Polly Harrington added 13 points and Raeshel Contreras added 10 points to round out South Dakota's (10-10, 1-4) top scorers, while Tia Hemiller added six points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

The Mavericks (9-10, 1-4) shot 8-of-25 from the field in the first half and missed all three of their free throw attempts. They finished the game shooting 35 percent from the field with Lanese Bough's 10 points leading the way.

After giving up the first four points of the game, South Dakota went on a 26-6 run over a 13 minute span to take control of the game. The Coyotes also ended the first half on an 11-0 run. USD shot 48 percent and forced Omaha into 14 turnovers in the first half.

South Dakota led by as many as 32 in the second half, but struggled to hold on to the ball and committed 15 turnovers. Despite that, Omaha could never cut the lead within 22 points.

In the box score, South Dakota shot 45 percent, outrebounded the Mavericks 46-33 and held a 17-5 edge in assists. USD also made as many free throws (14-of-18) as Omaha attempted (8-of-14).

South Dakota will travel to Fargo to take on North Dakota State on Thursday at 7 p.m.