LAS VEGAS—Lara Edmanson and Lexie Pritchard scored 13 points apiece to lead Santa Clara to a 75-50 win against South Dakota Friday in the first game of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic inside Orleans Arena.
 
Tess Heal added 11 points and Ayzhiana Basallo chipped in 10 for the Broncos, who improved to 4-3 overall. South Dakota got nine points from both Grace Larkins and Macy Guebert but fell to 4-2 overall.
 
Santa Clara jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never looked back. The Broncos led 19-5 after one quarter and 40-25 at the half. They shot 67 percent in the first half (16-of-24) including a 5-of-9 mark from beyond the arc. Jayde Cadee, who was averaging just 10 minutes in the young season, came off the Broncos' bench and hit two long triples en route to eight first-half points.
 
South Dakota, meanwhile, missed its first 11 shots and turned it over 10 times in the first half. The Coyotes shot a season-low 29 percent from the field and made 4-of-21 three-point shots.
 
South Dakota played without starter and third-leading scorer Madison Grange for the first time and had trouble with Santa Clara's athleticism. The Coyotes tried zone defensively to stem the tide, but to no avail. The Broncos had a 39-27 edge on the boards and became the first team to outrebound the Coyotes this season.
 
Larkins had seven boards and two steals to go with her points. Guebert did all her scoring in the second half. Nine different Coyotes entered the scoring column.
 
The Coyotes return to action at 1 p.m. (CT) Saturday against Fordham.