VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota's defense led the Coyotes to a 61-35 victory over Omaha on Thursday night inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
It marked the fifth time this season that South Dakota (19-5, 12-1) has held its opponent under 40 points. South Dakota remains home to host Denver at 1 p.m. Saturday in the program's annual Pink Game. Select jerseys are being auctioned off at
GoYotes.com/auctions to raise money for the Dakota Hospital Foundation in Vermillion.
"Our defensive intensity and awareness was really good, especially at the start of the game and that is something that we must continue to do at a high level every game," said USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit.
"We hope to see a lot of Yote fans wearing pink on Saturday afternoon when we take on Denver and help raise money for a great cause here in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center!"
The Coyotes utilized a balanced lineup with senior guard
Chloe Lamb being the only player to reach double-figures in the game. Lamb tallied 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while also handing out five assists and stealing the ball twice. Tonight marked Lamb's 10th-straight double-figure game.
Senior center
Hannah Sjerven finished just shy of a double-double with nine points, eight boards and three blocks. Senior guard
Liv Korngable's streak of six-straight double-figure games came to an end as she finished with nine points. Korngable also handed out five assists and had two steals. Freshman guard
Grace Larkins got to the line to reach nine points, while second-year freshman
Maddie Krull tallied eight points and five boards.
Omaha (6-16, 2-11) center Mariah Murdie paced the Mavericks with eight points.
South Dakota shot 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor, but grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and capitalized with 11 second-chance points. Both Sjerven and fourth-year junior
Allison Peplowski grabbed three offensive rebounds. The Coyotes were 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) from behind the arc.
Omaha finished 26.7 percent (12-of-45) from the field and 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from the field.
South Dakota also scored 22 points off 23 Omaha turnovers in the game.
