SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—South Dakota's inside presence dominated in the Coyotes' 65-43 win over Oral Roberts in the Summit League Tournament semifinals on Monday afternoon inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
No. 17/12 South Dakota (29-2) advances to its seventh Summit League Tournament Championship game in eight years. The Coyotes enter the championship match-up riding an 18-game winning streak that ranks fourth in the nation.
"Our effort and awareness defensively was really strong from the start, which allowed us to pull out a really good victory despite not shooting it at a high clip from the arc," said USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit. "Our team showed a lot of maturity and our ability to make adjustments on the offensive end allowed us to score it more efficiently, especially during the second and third quarter.
"We will now get prepared for whoever our next opponent is and we hope to see the Premier Center painted red with Coyote fans at 1 p.m. tomorrow!"
The Coyotes dominated the inside game, outscoring the Golden Eagles 44-14 in the paint. Senior forward
Taylor Frederick and junior center
Hannah Sjerven led the charge with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Sjerven tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points, 13 boards, seven blocks and three steals. She tied her career highs for both blocks and rebounds in the game. Sjerven also moved to fourth on USD's career blocks chart.
Frederick finished 8-of-10 from the field, scoring her 16 points in 17 minutes. She also grabbed six boards.
Joining the duo in double-figures for the 30th time this season was senior guard
Ciara Duffy with 10 points. Junior guard
Chloe Lamb added nine points, six assists and five rebounds.
Oral Roberts was led by all-Summit guard Keni Jo Lippe as the only Golden Eagle in double-figures. She scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
A defensive battle in the first quarter tied it up 10-10 in the first 10 minutes, but the Coyotes came out firing in the second period with 14 unanswered points.
Sjerven scored nine points in the second period as the Coyotes outscored the Golden Eagles 25-5. South Dakota's defense held Oral Roberts to 1-of-20 from the field, with the Coyotes blocking five shots and stealing the ball twice. South Dakota shot a blistering 62 percent for the period.
South Dakota extended its lead to 50-26 at the end of the third. Oral Roberts' starters made a run in the fourth against the Coyote bench to outscore USD by two in the final frame. The Coyotes came away with a 65-43 victory, its third Summit League Tournament semifinal win over Oral Roberts in five years.
USD shot 40 percent (27-of-68) from the field for the game, while holding Oral Roberts to 21 percent (12-of-56). The Coyotes finished with four 3-pointers, although three of them came in the fourth quarter.
The Coyotes take on the winner of South Dakota State/North Dakota State in the second semifinal at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
