VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota women's basketball converted one field goal in the fourth quarter, leading to a 67-63 loss to Eastern Washington Saturday in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion.
 
Three Coyotes scored in double figures in the loss, led by Elise Turrubiates and Angelina Robles who scored 13 points each. Molly Joyce tallied 10 points off the bench. USD struggled to find the bottom of the basket in the second half, going 5-27 in the half and just 1-for-13 in the fourth quarter.
 
While the Coyotes struggled to convert field goals, they were efficient from the free throw line, converting 24-of-28 from the charity stripe. Robles went 6-for-6 from the line. Turrubiates and Tori Schlagel went 5-of-6 and Alex Flattery converted all four of her attempts from the line.
 
Eastern Washington held a slim 15-14 lead after one quarter, but a strong second from the Coyotes gave USD the halftime lead, 34-30. A big four-point play from Robles helped South Dakota hold its largest lead of the game at 29-22 with 4:16 to play in the half.
 
The Eagles opened the second half with a 7-0 run to lead 37-34 after two minutes of play. The two sides went back and forth for the remainder of the game. Eastern Washington took the lead for good with 3:26 to play.
 
The Coyote defense was solid most of the way, holding EWU to 32.8% shooting (22-67) and just 25% from three. The scoring difference came in the paint, where the Eagles had 12 more points than USD. Four Eastern Washington players scored in double figures compared to three for the Yotes.
 
USD's offense converted a season low 27% (17-63) of their shots in the loss, but the Coyotes hit 5-of-14 three-pointers, marking the first time this season the Coyotes converted over 35% of their shots from deep in back-to-back games after a season's best 43.8% shooting from three Wednesday at Portland State.
 
The Coyotes are back on the road for their next three games, first making a trip to Bradley for an 11 a.m. game in Peoria Wednesday. The following week, USD will be in Malibu, Calif. to take on Pepperdine and UTRGV.
 
NOTABLES
• South Dakota is 8-2 on the season and 5-1 at home.
• South Dakota is now 0-1 all-time against Eastern Washington.
• Robles has scored in double figures in nine straight games after totaling 13 Saturday.
• Turrubiates scored in double figures for a second straight game, totaling 13 points and adding a team-best nine rebounds.
• Joyce scored 10 of USD's 19 bench points in the loss. She also had five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
   
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