Jan. 30, 2014

FARGO, N.D. – Junior Raeshel Contreras scored a career-high 28 points and Tia Hemiller was one rebound shy of a double-double as the South Dakota women's basketball team topped North Dakota State 83-70 to move back above .500 this season on Thursday night at the Bison Sports Arena.

Contreras was 9-for-16 shooting and 6-for-9 from beyond the 3-point arc. Hemiller added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Nicole Seekamp, who missed the last three games because of an ankle injury, scored 13 points off the bench and Polly Harrington added 11 points.

Overall, the Coyotes (11-10, 2-4) shot 48 percent from the floor and 52 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range.

NDSU's (5-16, 1-5) Holly Johnson, Marena Whittle and Brooke LeMar all scored 13 points while Miki Stephenson added 11 points. LeMar recorded a double-double by tallying 10 assists.

South Dakota led for a total of 38 minutes and 40 seconds in the game, trailing just once after Johnson scored on a layup 29 seconds after the opening tip to make it 2-0 NDSU. However, USD shot 56 percent (17-of-30) from the field, outrebounded the Bison 21-12 and got 12 points from Hemiller in the first half to lead 46-35 at the break.

Contreras scored 17 points in the second half and NDSU couldn't cut the margin to less than nine points. The Coyotes led by as many as 16 and kept NDSU to just 33 percent (13-of-39) shooting in the second half. NDSU shot 36 percent (26-of-71) overall in the game.

Despite losing the turnover battle 15-11, USD held an 18-11 edge in points off of turnovers.

The Coyotes will play South Dakota State on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Brookings. The matchup will count in the South Dakota Showdown Series standings.