ST. LOUIS—South Dakota rallied back from a 12-point, first-half deficit and saw four players score in double figures during a 71-67 road win against Saint Louis Sunday inside Chaifetz Arena.
The Coyotes improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 on the road. The Billikens fell to 1-5 overall and 1-2 at home. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
South Dakota point guard
Grace Larkins scored a team-high 17 points including three buckets in the third quarter when the Coyotes flipped a 36-31 halftime deficit into a 50-44 lead.
Jeniah Ugofsky offered a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with four rebounds.
Macy Guebert drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and iced the game at the free-throw line in totaling 11 points.
"Today was a total team win," said USD head coach
Kayla Karius. "We really settled in after the first quarter and limited our turnovers. That helped our pace, and we took better shots.
"Our team is gaining new experiences with every game. We had to fight back and execute at the very end. Our focus and competitive maturity kept us in it. I'm really proud of this team."
Saint Louis led 18-10 after one and enjoyed its largest lead at 34-22 after Kayla McMakin hit a 3 with three minutes to play in the first half. McMakin led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-21 from the field.
It was redshirt freshman
Carley Duffney who provided the spark off South Dakota's bench. Fresh off a season-high 14 points last time out, Duffney scored 10 Sunday including eight in the second quarter. After
Madison Grange converted a three-point play to cut into the Billikens' lead, Duffney drilled a triple that quickly closed the gap to 34-28. USD closed within three on a Larkins layup before McMakin answered for the final score of the half.
South Dakota held Saint Louis to 3-of-13 shooting in the third quarter and maintained a lead until McMakin's second 3-pointer of the game put the Billikens ahead 65-64 with 1:45 to go. Guebert received a perfect pass on the wing from Ugofsky moments later and drilled the shot that put USD up for good. The Coyotes forced a tough shot on the other end, Larkins rebounded, was fouled and made both free throws for a four-point lead.
South Dakota scored 20 points off 21 offensive rebounds and true freshman
Walker Demers pulled down eight of them en route to a season-high 11 boards. She also hit a big 3 in the second half and totaled seven points. After turning the ball over nine times in the opening quarter, South Dakota returned the favor and turned the Billikens over 21 times. Ugofsky had two of the Coyotes' six steals.
Sunday marked the start of South Dakota's longest road trip of the season. The Coyotes next head to Las Vegas for a Holiday Classic. The team faces Santa Clara and Fordham on back-to-back days Friday and Saturday. USD also faces Northern Colorado before its next home game with Drake on Dec. 6.
