Final Stats

OMAHA, Neb. - Senior guard Raeshel Contreras tallied 12 points while Nicole Seekamp and Margaret McCloud both added 11 points as the South Dakota women's basketball team turned a 27-25 halftime lead into a 64-48 win in its Summit League opener on Friday night in Sapp Fieldhouse.

Contreras scored 11 second half points to help the Coyotes (11-3, 1-0) lead by as many as 19 while outscoring Omaha 37-23 in the second half. McCloud added 10 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season while Seekamp added seven assists and six rebounds to go with her scoring effort.

Two Mavericks (5-8, 0-1) reached double-digit point totals as Mikaela Shaw and Remy Davenport both scored 15 points. Shaw was one rebound short of a double-double with nine.

Despite not having starting forward Lisa Loeffler play in the game, the Coyotes outscored the Mavericks 32-12 in the paint, outrebounded Omaha 48-31 and scored 18 second chance points off of 20 offensive rebounds. USD also recorded its second lowest turnover total of the season, finishing with nine while forcing Omaha into 16.

The Coyotes led by as many as seven in the first half (16-9 with 7:31 remaining), but needed a 7-2 run to enter halftime with a two-point lead. The Coyotes had four baskets in the first three minutes of the game but only produced seven baskets over the last 17 minutes of the first half. Kate Liveringhouse and Seekamp both led USD scoring with seven points while McCloud added six points and six rebounds. Shaw led Omaha in the half with 13 points.

The `Yotes busted the game open on a 26-8 run over a 12-minute stretch during the second half, expanding what was once a 36-35 lead with 14:41 remaining to a 62-43 lead with 2:03 left. USD had an 18-8 advantage in points in the paint, a 12-4 advantage in points off of turnovers and an 11-2 advantage in second chance points during the half. The Coyotes, who shot 14-for-36 in the second half, held Omaha to nine field goals on 26 shots and tallied five steals on 11 Maverick turnovers in the half.

South Dakota, which opens league play with three straight road contests, will travel to Tulsa to face Oral Roberts on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. The Coyotes will follow up by traveling to Macomb, Ill., to take on Western Illinois on Jan. 10.