OMAHA, Neb.—
Carley Duffney reentered South Dakota's starting lineup Saturday and perhaps she will never leave. The redshirt freshman from Green Bay, Wisconsin, scored a season-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting to help lift the Coyotes to a 70-63 road win at Omaha Saturday at Baxter Arena.
It was South Dakota's 11
th consecutive win in the series and the Coyotes have won 26 of 28 against Omaha dating back to 2007. USD (9-10) ended a two-game skid and maintained its third-place standing inside the Summit League. Omaha (9-11) has lost four of five and is 4-5 in Summit play.
Duffney scored 12 first-half points to keep South Dakota close and waited for
Grace Larkins to find her groove in the second. Larkins scored 18 of her game-high 24 points after halftime to rally USD back from a 37-31 halftime deficit. Larkins made six of the final seven shots she took and was one rebound shy of a double-double.
Duffney's performance more than offset the numbers posted by Omaha's fifth-year senior center Elena Pilakouta, the reigning Summit League Player of the Week. Pilakouta had 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting performance. But the Coyotes kept her off the free-throw line, gave her one offensive rebound and forced her into four turnovers.
Omaha was led in scoring by Grace Cave who had 19 points to go with eight rebounds. Aaliyah Stanley chipped in 16 points.
Three-point shooting absolutely played a role in this one. Omaha made 4-of-7 in the first quarter and jumped out to a 22-17 lead. But the Mavericks made 2-of-19 the rest of the way. That was crucial as South Dakota mixed in a 2-3 zone to try to slow down Pilakouta in the paint.
South Dakota also missed open looks beyond the arc but made 8-of-23 overall. Duffney and
Walker Demers stepped outside to hit two triples apiece. Demers, a young pup compared to Pilakouta, managed eight points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of work. She and Duffney both took their turns trying to slow down the 6-foot-3 Pilakouta.
USD turned it over 23 times a week ago in a loss at South Dakota State. The Coyotes matched their season-low with six turnovers against the Mavericks. USD also won the rebound battle for the first time in three games.
South Dakota heads to Denver for a 7 p.m. tip Monday. It is a makeup of a game that was postponed Thursday due to a winter snowstorm.
