Jan. 10, 2015
Final Stats
MACOMB, Ill. – Senior guard Raeshel Contreras scored 24 points and led five more Coyotes to double-digit point totals as South Dakota head women's basketball coach Amy Williams recorded her 50th win with the program on Saturday during USD's 101-87 win over Western Illinois in Western Hall.
Nicole Seekamp, Margaret McCloud and Kelly Stewart all recorded 16 points for the Coyotes (12-4, 2-1), while Tia Hemiller added 11 points and Bridget Arens finished with 10 points. Seekamp recorded her first double-double of the season by adding 10 assists to her scoring total, while Arens was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.
Williams ties Mary Zimmerman (1976-82) as the second-fastest coach in program history to reach 50 wins, doing it in 84 games. Chad Lavin (1982-86, 1998-08) reached 50 wins the quickest, doing it in 71 games.
Four Leathernecks (10-6, 2-1) reached double-digit point totals. Ashley Luke tallied a double-double with 34 points and 15 rebounds, Tori Niemann added 16 points and both Sophie Reichelt and Michelle Maher added 11 points.
South Dakota recorded its highest point total ever against a Division I school, topping the previous highs of 96 set against UC Irvine earlier this season and against Western Illinois in the Summit League Tournament last March. As a team, the Coyotes shot 55 percent from the field (34-for-61) and 50 percent from 3-point range (10-for-20), while WIU shot 44 percent (28-of-63) and 30 percent (6-of-20) respectively.
South Dakota also held a 34-13 edge in bench points and nearly doubled WIU in assists, 20-11.
The Coyotes shot 65 percent from the field and 63 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half to take a 52-33 lead into halftime. Western Illinois recorded a 36 percent shooting percentage and shot at a 20 percent clip from beyond the arc during the half. USD posted a 21-2 run during a seven minute stretch in the frame, turning a 12-8 deficit into a 29-14 lead with 9:31 remaining until the break.
Contreras led USD in scoring in the first half with 13 points while McCloud added 10 points. Seekamp had nine points and six assists at the break.
Stewart led USD in scoring in the second half with 14 points while Contreras added 11 points. Western Illinois trailed by as many as 24 in the half and wasn't able to cut the lead to less than 11 points despite 21 second half points from Luke.
South Dakota will return to the DakotaDome to host the Summit League leading North Dakota State Bison (7-8, 3-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
