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Women's Basketball
Grace Larkins drives to the hoop
Bailey Zubke, USD Athletics
61
South Dakota SD 11-16,5-8 Summit League
71
Winner South Dakota St. SDSU 23-3,13-0 Summit League
South Dakota SD
11-16,5-8 Summit League
61
Final
71
South Dakota St. SDSU
23-3,13-0 Summit League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
South Dakota SD 17 14 15 15 61
South Dakota St. SDSU 6 25 23 17 71

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Bailey Zubke, Assistant Director of Communications

Larkins surpasses 2,000 career points in 71-61 loss at South Dakota State

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Coyotes jumped out to an early lead, but South Dakota State rallied back to take a 71-61 win over South Dakota Saturday afternoon inside First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings.
 
The story of the day became Grace Larkins, who late in the third quarter, scored her 2,000th career point on an and-one free throw attempt. Larkins is the third 2,000-point scorer in South Dakota history, following in the footsteps of Mandy Koupal and Nicole Seekamp. Larkins has 2,006 points after finishing with 23 Saturday.
   
The Coyotes, who dictated the pace in the first quarter, slowed things down, and got South Dakota State out of rhythm. A 14-0 run over the final 7:13 of the opening quarter gave USD a 17-6 advantage after one.
 
The Yotes opened the second quarter hot, stretching the scoring run to 19 before SDSU hit a shot, but a 13-0 run to end the second for the Jacks made things square at 31 heading into the intermission. That run carried into the third quarter, finishing at 21 unanswered points before USD snapped its scoring drought.
 
The Coyotes were able to hang in the remainder of the game but were never able to recover from the 21-0 run from South Dakota State. Both teams shot true to their season average, as USD hit 41% of their field goal attempts and SDSU 48% of theirs. The difference came in points off turnovers, where SDSU had 22 off 11 Coyote turnovers, but the Coyotes scored 14 off 13 Jackrabbit turnovers.
 
Larkins finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists; one assist shy of her first career triple-double. Alexi Hempe buried five three-pointers to score 15 points in the loss. The slower tempo for USD allowed Larkins, Hempe, and Carley Duffney to play the full 40 minutes. Gabby Wilke scored eight points in 32 minutes. The Coyotes had three bench points and had just two players entered the game off the bench.
 
South Dakota stays on the road this week, traveling to Omaha to face the Mavericks Thursday and then trekking to St. Paul to take on St. Thomas Saturday.
 
NOTABLES
• South Dakota falls to 11-16 on the season, 5-8 in conference play, and 1-8 in road games.
• Grace Larkins became the third Coyote in the 2,000-point club, scoring 23 points Saturday and adding 10 rebounds and nine assists.
• Larkins needs 51 points to pass Seekamp for second in Coyote history and 137 to pass Mandy Koupal as the all-time leading scorer.
• It was Larkins' 14th double-double of the season and the 28th of her career.
• It was Larkins' 29th consecutive game scoring in double figures and 94th of her career.
• Alexi Hempe return to double figures in scoring with 15 points, her 13th time season.
• South Dakota is now 9-5 when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• The Coyotes are now 3-16 when allowing their opponent to score 70-plus points.
• The Coyotes have now lost seven straight to the Jacks and sixth straight in Brookings.
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