VERMILLION, S.D.— A 30-9 opening quarter was plenty of cushion for South Dakota as they cruised past Midland 89-39 Wednesday night inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in the Coyotes' final tune-up ahead of Summit League play this weekend.
South Dakota (4-3) entered with the nation's ninth-longest home win streak and extended it to 14 dating back to last November. The Coyotes host Denver (2-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
"Tonight it was great to get back in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center for one final game before we start conference play," said USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit. "This has been a strange season, but we were thankful for the opportunity to compete and get some valuable game experience at home for our team.
"We will now prepare for our first conference opponent and the challenge of playing back-to-back games versus the same opponent in Denver this weekend."
Nearly all five USD starters scored in double figures and only point guard
Maddie Krull logged more than 19 minutes.
Hannah Sjerven posted game highs of 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals in 19 minutes of work.
Liv Korngable had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Kyah Watson had her first double-figure game with 11 points, Krull added 10 and
Chloe Lamb had nine. It marked the first time since the season-opener that the Coyotes put four in double-digits.
Midland, an NAIA program from Fremont, Nebraska, got 10 points including two triples from Lexis Haase. Makenna Sullivan added seven and Peyton Wingert from nearby Dakota Valley had five. The Warriors were limited to 22 percent shooting (12-of-54) and committed 20 turnovers.
All 14 Coyotes who dressed played and all but three found the scoring column.
Morgan Hansen led USD's bench with nine points while
Allison Peplowski added a career-high eight. Both had four boards.
Jeniah Ugofsky had seven rebounds and scored three points in 11 minutes.
South Dakota led 47-20 at the half and shot close to 50 percent for the game (33-of-67). The Coyotes doubled the Warriors in rebounds 52-26 and swatted eight shots. South Dakota also capitalized with 33 points off 20 Midland turnovers.
USD enters the weekends' games with a 7-2 record in Summit League openers.
