MACOMB, Ill.—Four Coyotes reached double-figures in South Dakota's 83-61 road victory at Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon inside Western Hall.
No. 25/25 South Dakota (23-3, 11-1 Summit League) recorded its 10th-straight win, while it ended Western Illinois (12-14, 8-5 Summit League) four-game win streak.
"Playing in Macomb is a tough for a variety of reasons; it is a long trip and Western Illinois plays a tough style to prepare for," said USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit. "We did a good job of making adjustments throughout the game and found a way to pick up a really good road victory."
Sophomore center
Hannah Sjerven paced the Coyotes with 20 points for her fourth 20-point game of the season. She also swatted six blocks and grabbed five rebounds.
Sjerven scored 16 of her points in the second half, while junior guard
Ciara Duffy led the Coyotes with 16 points in the first half. Duffy finished with 18 points overall, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out four assists.
Sophomore guard
Chloe Lamb scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. She also grabbed four rebounds and handed out two assists without a turnover. Lamb put away eight points in less than a minute towards the end of the fourth quarter to prevent the Leathernecks from closing in.
Junior forward
Taylor Frederick was the fourth Coyote in double figures with 10 points. She was 4-of-6 from the floor.
Senior guard
Allison Arens contributed a balanced stat line of nine points, a career-best seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Younger sister
Monica Arens had seven points, five rebounds and three assists.
Western Illinois was led by guards Annabel Graettinger and Olivia Kaufmann with 15 points apiece.
The Coyotes used a 17-4 run to close out the second quarter as South Dakota led 39-28 at the break. South Dakota continued to extend its lead throughout the second half.
South Dakota shot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) from the floor while holding Western Illinois to 33.9 percent (19-of-56). The Leathernecks, who ranks 13th in the country for 3-pointers made, shot 15.4 percent (4-of-26) from downtown.
The Coyotes return home to host Denver at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota.
