Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--South Dakota senior guard Nicole Seekamp scored a game-high 23 points in leading the top-seeded Coyotes to a 69-58 win against fifth-seeded IUPUI in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament Monday at Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

South Dakota (25-6), the defending champion of the event, improved to 7-1 all-time at the Tournament and will compete in the finals for the third year in a row. The Coyotes will face either South Dakota State or Oral Roberts, the two and three seeds, respectively, at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Seekamp tied her career-high with four 3-pointers and made 9 of 15 shots from the field. South Dakota also got 11 points each from Raeshel Contreras and Tia Hemiller. Margaret McCloud added eight points and eight rebounds.

Nevena Markovic, Shaquira Scott and Jenna Gunn each scored 11 points to lead IUPUI (15-16), which lost in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. The Jaguars shot 35 percent from the field (18 of 51), but made 18 of 21 free throws to stay close.

Seekamp scored seven points and Lisa Loeffler drilled a 3 during a 10-2 run that gave South Dakota a 25-14 lead with four minutes to go in the first half. The Jaguars scored the final five points of the stanza and trailed 25-19 at the break.

Seekamp hit back-to-back three's and Loeffler hit another to complete an 11-0 run that put the Coyotes in front 38-25 with 13:44 remaining. Loeffer had four boards and two assists to go with six points.

Gunn answered for IUPUI, making three buckets and scoring seven points to help bring the Jaguars within three at 40-37 near the midway point of the half. Gunn made 5 of 8 from the field in 27 minutes off the bench.

Kelly Stewart buried a 3 from the corner for South Dakota and Contreras found Seekamp on a fastbreak for a spot up 3 and the lead quickly jumped back to nine. South Dakota made eight triples in the second half and were 11 of 22 from downtown during the game.

Contreras missed her first seven shots, but swished her last three. She broke the ice with a driving layup to give USD a 54-39 lead, then hit two triples in one minute's time. When the second 3 fell through, USD had completed a 22-7 run to lead 62-44 with five minutes to go. Contreras led South Dakota with seven assists. South Dakota had 18 assists on 27 buckets.

South Dakota shot 53 percent in the second half and 44 percent for the game (27 of 61). The Coyotes also enjoyed a 41-29 edge on the boards. Kate Liveringhouse and Heidi Hoff had seven and six boards, respectively, off the Coyotes' bench.

Seekamp has averaged better than 20 points in eight Summit League Tournament games. She was the MVP of the event in 2013 and was selected to the all-tournament team a year ago. Seekamp has scored 1,423 collegiate points and is the seventh-leading scorer in program history.