VERMILLION, S.D.–South Dakota senior center Abigail Fogg scored a career high 25 points and sophomore guard Jaycee Bradley added 23 more as the Coyotes defeated the Big Ten's Illinois 77-68 inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Wednesday night.
 
South Dakota (7-2) has won back-to-back contests over Illinois with the first coming in Champaign last season. The Coyotes move to 6-8 all-time against B1G programs. Illinois (3-6) was the first Big Ten program, men or women, to visit Vermillion in 35 years.
 
"It feels great, our team really found a way," said USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. "The game plan going in was different than how we ended the game, but we knew we had a back-up option going into a zone defense. Illinois is a team whose percentages have not shown up well. They can shoot, but other teams have probably done a better job of taking away arc shots than we did early. We dug in, took care of the basketball and got some big shots tonight out of Jaycee and Abigail to pull the win out."
 
Fogg scored her 25 points from around the rim, from a pair of threes and from the free-throw line. She shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the field and made 7-of-10 free throws. Fogg also handed out three assists.
 
The Illini were led by freshman guard Brandi Beasley in her second-straight career game. Beasley scored 24 points while shooting 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the field and 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from 3-point range. She also grabbed seven boards. Sophomore forward Alex Wittinger was the second Illini in double figures with 11 points.
 
Illinois led by nine points midway through the second quarter, but Fogg led the Coyotes on a 7-0 run in the final 1:18 of the half to close the gap to two. There were six ties and four lead changes in the game.
 
Bradley would score 20 of her 23 points in the second half. She converted the elusive 4-point play and drilled the open three on the next possession, likely reminding the Illini coaching staff of her five first-half 3-pointers from Champaign a year ago. Bradley finished with a career high six made triples while shooting 61.5 percent (8-of-13) tonight.
 
Beasley would match Bradley's 3-point effort by hitting three triples in 46 seconds to reduce the Coyote lead from 17 to eight with 51 seconds remaining.
 
Freshman guard Madison McKeever hit all four free throws in the final minute to tally a new career high of 13 points and hold on to the Coyotes' lead. McKeever swiped away a pair of steals in the second half.
 
South Dakota outrebounded Illinois 35-24 led by a career high 13 boards from sophomore guard Allison Arens. Arens also scored seven points and handed out six assists. Senior forward Bridget Arens scored six points, grabbed six boards and dished out a career high six assists.
 
The Coyotes shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from behind the arc.
 
South Dakota continues its 3-game home stand at 1 p.m. Sunday against San Jose State in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.