VERMILLION, S.D. – Patience Williams scored the first 14 points of the game for either team, South Dakota led 32-9 after one quarter, and the Coyotes cruised to a 73-57 victory over Pepperdine in the WNIT Super 16 Thursday night in Vermillion.
 
The Coyotes opened the game on a 14-0 run, all scored by Patience Williams. Williams poured in four three-pointers over that stretch and finished the game with 20 points. Pepperdine called a timeout after Williams' fourth triple at the 5:35 mark of the second quarter when the Yotes led 14-0.

South Dakota continued to grow the lead, stretching it to 20 for the first time at 23-2 after a Angelina Robles layup. Josie Hill converted a pair of free throws at the end of the quarter to give USD a 32-9 lead after one.
 
Molly Joyce buried a three-pointer to give USD a 37-9 lead at the 8:21 mark of the second, and South Dakota cruised to halftime from there, allowing Pepperdine to cut the lead to 23, but it was all Coyotes, 51-28 at the half. Pepperdine tried to make things interesting in the second half, cutting as close as at with seven minutes to play, but South Dakota steadied the ship and held on for the 16-point win.
 
The Coyotes were on fire from beyond the arc all game long, totaling 11 made three-pointers at a 47.8% clip, the highest percentage this season and the second straight game over 45% from both the field and from three.
 
Williams and Robles tallied 20 points apiece, they are the first Coyote duo to go over 20 points in a game since Robles and Joyce did it against North Dakota State on February 21. Four Coyotes scored in double figures for a second straight game as Jenna Hopp and Elise Turrubiates added 11 points each.
 
Robles moved into the USD single season top 10 list in scoring with her 20 points taking her to a total of 550 this year.
 
Williams finished a rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing nine boards and adding three assists. Robles had six rebounds and two assists. Joyce led the team with five assists to go with her seven points.
 
The Coyotes avenged a loss to Pepperdine from December. The Waves shot over 50% from three in their win in Malibu just over three months ago, but Thursday night they managed 38.9% from three. South Dakota led for over 38 minutes of Thursday's win, and didn't trail in the game.
 
South Dakota is on to the Great 8 of the WNIT for just the third time in the program's seven appearances, and for the first time since 2018. The Coyotes will host Montana State Sunday at 1 p.m. inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Tickets are available now.
 
Notables
• South Dakota is 25-9 on the season and 14-3 inside the SCSC.
• South Dakota is now 16-5 in the WNIT with the win Sunday, and is 8-1 in WNIT games inside the SCSC.
• Four Coyotes scored in double figures in a game for the second straight game.
• Robles tallied her 14^th 20-point scoring game with 20.
• She is now 10^th on the single season scoring list at South Dakota with 550 points this year.
• Williams scored the game's first 14 points and finished one shy of her career-high with 20.
• Turrubiates and Hopp tallied 11 points each for the Yotes.
• USD is now 22-1 when outrebounding their opponent this season.
• South Dakota is 23-2 when leading at the half this season.
• The Coyotes are 11-0 when shooting over 45% from the field and 6-0 when making at least 40% from three.
• The 14 wins inside the SCSC is tied for the second most in a season (with the 2019-20 season) for the Coyotes. The most is 17 by the 2017-18 squad.
   
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