VERMILLION, S.D.—Washington forward Talia Walton put up 29 points and guard Kelsey Plum added 25 more as the Huskies defeated the Coyotes 77-64 inside the DakotaDome Saturday night.
"It's a tough loss," said South Dakota head coach
Amy Williams. "We played outside of ourselves a bit down the stretch. Part of that is a credit to Washington, as the Huskies have some great players. Part of that is also that we were trying a bit too hard. We didn't have a great assist-to-turnover ratio and we were outrebounded for the second time this season."
Washington's win ended South Dakota's 18-game home winning streak in the DakotaDome. The Huskies were 29-of-61 for the field at a 47.5 percent clip. The Coyotes shot 22-of-62 for 35.5 percent.
South Dakota took a 33-28 lead into halftime with 13 first-half points from senior guard
Tia Hemiller. Hemiller had eight points in the Coyotes' 19-0 run during the first quarter with two triples and a layup. Hemiller grabbed six rebounds and had two steals during the game.
The Coyotes also had 13 points from junior guard
Jasmine Trimboli, who was 6-of-9 shooting on the night. Trimboli also had a trio of steals that each resulted in a Coyote bucket.
Senior guard
Nicole Seekamp scored 10 points to move into fourth on South Dakota's all-time scoring chart with 1,600 career points. Seekamp notched seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
The Coyotes held the nation's leading scorer, Plum, to a mere nine points in the first half on 4-of-13 shooting. Plum was averaging 28.4 ppg headed into Saturday. Plum scored nine more points on a Husky 16-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter. She tallied 25 points 6-of-11 shooting in the second half.
Washington played a tight man-to-man defense throughout the game that forced 12 Coyote turnovers. The Huskies also had eight blocks with three from Walton.
A team that has made at least 10 triples in all but one game this season, South Dakota was 5-for-26 outside the perimeter for 19.2 percent.
Washington edged South Dakota 38-37 in the rebounding margin. The Huskies had 15 second-chance points off of eight offensive rebounds.
South Dakota returns to the DakotaDome Thursday as the Coyotes host Dakota Wesleyan at 7 p.m.
