VERMILLION, S.D.—Behind the Coyotes' most efficient shooting performance of the season, South Dakota downed Denver 87-47 inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
"Today was a very good start to Summit League play for our team and our communication on the defensive end was the trigger for that good start," said USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. "With playing the same team on consecutive days, we now have to get recovered quickly as well as go back and evaluate the film and find areas that we can improve on both sides of the ball for tomorrow's game."
 
The Coyotes (5-3, 1-0 Summit) put four players in double-figures for the second consecutive game. South Dakota extends its Summit League winning streak to 19 games.
 
Preseason Summit Player of the Year Hannah Sjerven put a stamp on her conference debut with her third double-double of the season. She scored 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds – five on the offensive glass. It was also her 10th career 20-point game.
 
Senior Chloe Lamb, also a preseason first-team pick, had one of her most efficient games of the season with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. She added three rebounds, two steals and two assists.
 
Senior Liv Korngable scored 16 first-half points to go with four assists and three rebounds.
 
Sophomore Macy Guebert had a season-best 11 points with three triples in 13 minutes of action.
 
Denver (2-7, 0-1 Summit) was led by Uju Ezeudu's team-high 15 points and eight boards. She was the only Pioneer to reach double-digits in the scoring column.
 
The Coyotes held the Pioneers to single digits in the first and second quarter, jumping out to a 45-16 halftime lead. South Dakota held the Pioneers to 20 percent shooting in the first half and forced 14 turnovers. South Dakota led by as much as 49 points midway through the fourth quarter.
 
USD shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-of-24 from 3-point range). Denver finished at 27.3 percent from the field (15-of-55).
 
South Dakota outrebounded Denver 44-26 in the game. Behind Sjerven, sophomore Jeniah Ugofsky added eight boards. The Coyotes held a 12-1 rebounding edge over the Pioneers after the first quarter. The Pioneers' first offensive board came with 3:46 to play in the second quarter.
 
USD also extended its home winning streak to 15 games, which is tied for the eighth-longest active streak nationally.
 
The two squads will rematch tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. back inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.