Feb. 27, 2014
Box Score
VERMILLION, S.D.--South Dakota rebounded from a 19-point, second-half deficit to beat North Dakota State, 95-87, in overtime Thursday night at the DakotaDome.
The Coyotes (16-12, 7-6 Summit) won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 11-1 at home this season. The Bison (6-22, 2-11) have lost six in a row and will be the No. 7 seed against second-seeded IUPUI in the upcoming Summit League Tournament.
South Dakota got 23 points from Polly Harrington and double-doubles from point guard Tia Hemiller (14 points, 10 rebounds) and reserve center Margaret McCloud (16 points, 11 rebounds). The Coyotes out-scored the Bison 46-30 in the second half and 16-8 in overtime.
"Coach (Amy Williams) talks about playing our best basketball at this time of the year and that's what really kicked in in the second half," said Harrington, who finished one point shy of her career high. "We came out as hard as we could in the second half and it showed."
The Coyotes' comeback negated identical 31-point, eight-rebound efforts from North Dakota State's Marena Whittle and Holly Johnson. Whittle was 15 of 27 from the field. Johnson was 10 of 23 and hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in regulation that tied the game at 79-79 and forced overtime. Johnson was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.
South Dakota trailed 49-33 at halftime and 52-33 after Brooke LeMar hit a trey to open the scoring in the second half. Less than 10 minutes later, McCloud scored a layup in the lane that tied the game at 55-55.
"We thought we could take advantage on setting good screens, rolling hard to the basket and just using our strength and our size and focused on finishing," said McCloud. "We missed a lot of early layups in the first half."
McCloud and Harrington combined for 23 second-half points on 9 of 10 field goals. The Coyotes made 19 of 34 shots after halftime for 55 percent.
Hemiller made 1 of 2 free throws on the opening possession of overtime and Harrington hit a 3 on the next possession that gave USD its largest lead of the game at that point, 83-79. USD was 2 of 11 from beyond the arc prior to Harrington's 11th triple of the season.
Johnson answered with a bucket on the opposite end to make it 83-81, but the Bison made 2 of 9 shots in the extra period.
Harrington made two free throws and McCloud converted a three-point play with 1:42 left that extended USD's lead to 88-81. USD made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
