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VERMILLION, S.D.–South Dakota freshman guard Ciara Duffy drained a career high 22 points on 78 percent shooting as the Coyotes defeated IUPUI 75-62 Saturday afternoon inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
South Dakota (14-3, 3-1 Summit League) keeps its program record 22-game home winning streak alive and remains undefeated against IUPUI (11-5, 1-2 Summit) at home in the series history.
 
"We certainly got off to a hot start and shot the ball well, which I thought gave us a bit of confidence after Wednesday," said USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. "I was nervous going in at halftime, because we were red hot behind the 3-point arc and to have a lead with that, I just wasn't sure we could sustain that kind of shooting. But when this group plays with intensity, really good things can happen."
 
Duffy was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Jaycee Bradley with 15 points and senior center Abigail Fogg with 14. Freshman guard Madison McKeever chipped in nine points off the bench.
 
The Summit's leading scorer, sophomore guard Allison Arens, was held under double figures for just the second time this season. She had eight points and four assists.
 
"IUPUI did what we anticipated over the course of time," said Plitzuweit. "They clamped down on Allison whenever she had the ball and the entire team tried to guard her. We needed her to move the ball for us. It's going to be a learning curve for all of us, but we had several players step up offensively for us."
 
The Coyotes used a 16-5 run near the start of the first quarter to jump out to an early lead. Senior forward Bridget Arens and junior center Kate Liveringhouse each knocked down a three in the span as the Coyotes finished 6-of-7 outside the arc in the first half. Neither has attempted more than 15 from downtown in their career. Duffy found her spark after draining a deep three near the shot clock buzzer in the first quarter. She scored 12 through the first half on 4-of-5 shooting and had a career high 22 for the game. Duffy also handed out six assists and grabbed four off the glass.
 
IUPUI outscored South Dakota by one in the second quarter as Jaguar guard Danielle Lawrence scored 11 of her 15 first-half in the period. The Jaguars had three consecutive steals which resulted in a 5-0 run. IUPUI closed the gap to as few as four with 9:06 to play, but a pair of threes by Bradley and Duffy a minute apart extended the Coyotes hold on the game.
 
Jaguar center Mikale Rogers scored 21 points on 50 percent (9-of-18) shooting from the field. She helped IUPUI outscore South Dakota 32-20 in the paint. Lawrence finished with 17 points.
 
South Dakota shot 56.1 percent (23-of-41) from the field for its best shooting percentage in league play.
 
Outside the arc, the Coyotes were 64.7 percent (11-of-17). The last time the USD women shot above 60 percent from downtown, outside of last year's unbelievable 15-of-21 performance against Oregon in the WNIT, was in 2013 against the Jaguars.
 
The Coyotes led the Jaguars on the glass 30-20 with six rebounds apiece from Bradley and Bridget Arens.
 
South Dakota is on the road for a pair of games next week. First up for the Coyotes is a trip to Tulsa, Okla., against Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Wednesday.