Final Stats |

VERMILLION, S.D.— Six Coyotes recorded double-digit point totals as the South Dakota women's basketball team extended its lead in the Summit League standings to two-and-a-half games by topping Omaha 83-69 in the DakotaDome on Thursday night.

Nicole Seekamp led the Coyotes (20-5, 10-2) with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting while Raeshel Contreras hit four 3-pointers en route to a 14-point night. Kate Liveringhouse added 12 points, Kelly Stewart had 11 points and grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds, and Bridget Arens and Lisa Loeffler both added 10 points and six rebounds.

The win gives the Coyotes a two-and-a-half game lead over second place in the league standings with four games remaining on their schedule. South Dakota State, IUPUI and Western Illinois are all tied for second at 7-4 and did not play on Thursday night. USD will play all three of those teams before the end of the regular season.

With the win, South Dakota reached the 20-win mark for the first time under Amy Williams. The last time the Coyotes reached that mark was during the 2011-12 season when they finished 23-8.

Taijhe Kelly led the Mavericks (7-17, 2-10) with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting, while Mikaela Shaw added 18 points and Remy Davenport finished with 15 points. Omaha shot 52 percent in the game while holding USD to 44 percent shooting, but never held the lead after the first 12 minutes of the game.

South Dakota led by 10 at halftime (44-34) and by as many as 17 with under four minutes to play. For the game, South Dakota converted 16 offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points, outscored the Mavs 35-27 in bench points and held a 34-28 advantage in points in the paint. The Coyotes also outrebounded Omaha 40-25, tallied 18 assists and had a season-low six turnovers.

South Dakota took the lead for good with 6:59 remaining in the first half when Heidi Hoff hit a three-pointer to break a 23-23 tie. The Coyotes recorded a 16-7 run over the half's final 6:06, with five points coming from Contreras and four coming from Seekamp. Omaha would never cut the lead to less than 10 points the rest of the way.

South Dakota will travel to play Denver on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT.