COLUMBIA, Mo.—South Dakota women's basketball takes home its second AP Top 25 victory of the season after knocking off No. 22/24 Missouri 74-61 inside Mizzou Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Coyotes (10-1) entered the year 0-5 all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top 25, but now boast two AP Top 25 victories in a single season. South Dakota extends its winning streak to eight games and boasts the program's best start in the NCAA Division I era.
The game ends Missouri's (8-3) own five-game winning streak. The Tigers entered the season with a 53-game nonconference home winning streak dating back to Dec. 3, 2011. With losses to Green Bay and South Dakota, the Tigers have won 56 of their last 58 nonconference home games.
"Tonight was a big win in a very loud environment," said USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit. "Missouri is a very tough team that makes it extremely tough for you both ends and our young ladies did a great job of staying poised and playing with confidence. Our ability to take care of the ball, battle on the glass and score it at a good percentage from the field and the line was the difference in this game.
"We now have to recover and prepare for a very tough stretch of three games in three days in San Juan versus three very good yet different teams."
South Dakota junior guard
Ciara Duffy scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She grabbed four rebounds and handed out three assists. It marked her fourth 20-point game of the season.
Joining Duffy in double figures were sophomore guard
Monica Arens and senior guard
Allison Arens with 13 and 11 points, respectively. The sisters each grabbed three rebounds.
Missouri was led by two-time all-SEC guard Sophie Cunningham's double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She was 6-of-15 from the floor. Also in double figures for the Tigers were senior guard Lauren Aldridge with 12 points and junior guard Amber Smith with 10 points.
The Tigers started off hot, making three consecutive 3-pointers to jump out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter. South Dakota slowly chipped away at the deficit and tied the game midway through the second period.
The Coyotes used a 10-point run midway through the third quarter to pull away and entered the final frame leading 56-44 after a last second fade away jumper by junior forward
Taylor Frederick. Frederick finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Continuing the balanced effort, junior forward chipped in nine points and six rebounds while sophomore center
Hannah Sjerven had six points and nine rebounds.
South Dakota shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) from the field, outscoring the Tigers 30-16 in the paint. Missouri shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) in the game and made 33.3 percent (12-of-36) from downtown.
The Coyotes also capitalized with 15 points-off turnovers.
South Dakota's next three games will be played in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, at the Puerto Rico Classic. The Coyotes face Grambling State, Loyola Marymount and Indiana in three consecutive days from Dec. 19-21.
Tickets for the Coyotes' next home game against rival South Dakota State on Jan. 6 are on sale now at GoYotes.com or by calling the Coyote ticket office at 605-677-5959.
