OMAHA, Neb.–A balanced attack with four Coyotes in double figures led South Dakota to its eighth-straight road victory at Omaha, 72-50, inside Baxter Arena on Wednesday night.
The Coyotes (22-5, 12-0 Summit) tied the program's Division I record by winning their 16th-straight game. South Dakota enters Saturday's contest with Oral Roberts with a chance to clinch at least a share of the Summit League regular season title.
"Tonight's game was a tough test, especially since we did not knock down shots from the perimeter for a large portion of the game," said USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit. "I was happy with our intensity, especially to start the second half.
"We are looking forward to seeing our fans pack the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday as we honor our seniors before the game versus Oral Roberts."
Senior center
Kate Liveringhouse led the team in front of her hometown crowd with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. She made 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the field.
Junior guard
Allison Arens added 12 points with seven from the free-throw line. Arens also dished out three assists.
Senior guard
Jasmine Trimboli and freshman guard
Chloe Lamb each pitched in 10 points. Trimboli added three steals and two assists. Lamb had four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Omaha (11-13, 2-11 Summit) was led by junior guard Amber Vidal's game-high 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the floor.
The Coyotes made five of their first six field-goal attempts to jump out to a 13-3 lead. Omaha crawled back within four, 17-13, as the Coyotes' shooting went cold at the end of the quarter. Three of South Dakota's five 3-pointers came in the first period.
Liveringhouse scored her 800th career point at the beginning of the third quarter on back-to-back hook shots. Sophomore guard
Ciara Duffy scored two of her seven points on a reverse layup with four seconds remaining in the half. Duffy's basket put the Coyotes up 34-23 at the break.
Arens tallied nine of her dozen points in the third quarter while Lamb scored six of her 10 points in the fourth.
Sophomore guard
Madison McKeever scored her eighth point of the game at the end of a 13-2 run by USD that put the Coyotes up 62-35 with eight minutes remaining in the game.
South Dakota finished at 46.4 percent (26-of-56) from the field and scored 32 points in the paint after only five 3-pointers fell in the game. The Coyotes also sank 75 percent (15-of-20) from the free-throw line.
The Coyotes shared the ball well with 20 assists on their 26 made field goals.
Omaha made 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the floor and 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from outside the arc.
The Coyotes scored 19 points off 20 Maverick turnovers. Trimboli led the Coyotes with three of the team's nine steals.
South Dakota hosts Oral Roberts for senior day at 1 p.m. Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Saturday marks one of two remaining home games as the Coyotes also host South Dakota State next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
