Dec. 21, 2014
Final Stats
VERMILLION, S.D. – Raeshel Contreras scored a career-high 29 points as the South Dakota women's basketball team overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to top North Dakota 86-81 in the DakotaDome on Sunday afternoon. It was USD's seventh straight win.
The Coyotes (9-2) flipped the script on last season's matchup in Grand Forks when North Dakota (8-4) overcame a nine-point deficit to top USD 65-61. South Dakota trailed 46-37 at halftime on Sunday before outscoring UND 49-35 in the second half.
Contreras was 5-for-8 from 3-point range and upped her previous career-high of 28 points that she set last January at North Dakota State. Nicole Seekamp added 17 points and seven assists, Kelly Stewart finished with 15 points and Tia Hemiller tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
Overall, South Dakota shot 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc, forced UND into 22 turnovers and held a 44-28 advantage in points in the paint.
North Dakota's Makailah Dyer recorded 23 points while Mia Loyd recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Megan Lauck added 15 points and Emily Evers recorded 10 points.
USD led by as many as nine in the first half, but North Dakota finished the period on a 20-7 run to take a 46-37 lead at halftime. UND doubled up on the Coyotes in rebounds (18-9) and had three players with double-figure point totals in the first half. Contreras led USD in scoring with 15 points.
The Coyotes trailed by as many as nine on three occasions in the second half, but took lead for good on a 17-4 run during a four minute stretch. The run turned a 56-47 deficit into a 64-60 lead with 11:24 left in the game. USD shot 7-of-8 during that run and 16-of-32 overall in the half. Four Coyotes scored at least eight points in the period.
UND only shot 30.8 percent from the field in the second half (12-of-39), but didn't let the Coyote lead grow to more than five points.
South Dakota will travel to play at Texas-San Antonio on Dec. 28. That game is a part of the UTSA Tournament and will start at 2:30 p.m. The Coyotes will play Chattanooga the next day at noon.
