SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—South Dakota’s inside presence dominated in the Coyotes’ 65-43 win over Oral Roberts in the Summit League Tournament semifinals on Monday afternoon inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
No. 17/12 South Dakota (29-2) advances to its seventh Summit League Tournament Championship game in eight years. The Coyotes enter the championship match-up riding an 18-game winning streak that ranks fourth in the nation.
USD will face South Dakota State for the fifth time in six years those teams have met in the final. The Jacks won each of the first four matchups, and three of those four tilts, USD was the No. 1 seed.
KWSN 98.1 FM and 1230-AM will carry the title game in the Sioux Falls area, and you can stream it live at KWSN.COM and hear it on your phone via the FREE KWSN app.
As for the semifinal win, the score made it seem easy but the first quarter was a slog for the Coyotes, who had just two points in their first nine possessions and missed 15 of their 20 first quarter field goal attempts and trailed 10-8 with a minute left in the opening period.
But their defense held ORU to 4-of-15 shooting in that time and a 16-0 run gave USD a 24-10 lead halfway through the second and a 35-15 halftime lead, a double digit lead the Yotes never lost.
ORU was 5-for-35 from the floor in the first half, and 1-for-20 in the second quarter.
“Our effort and awareness defensively was really strong from the start, which allowed us to pull out a really good victory despite not shooting it at a high clip from the arc,” said USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. “Our team showed a lot of maturity and our ability to make adjustments on the offensive end allowed us to score it more efficiently, especially during the second and third quarter.
“We will now get prepared for whoever our next opponent is and we hope to see the Premier Center painted red with Coyote fans at 1 p.m. tomorrow!”
The Coyotes dominated the inside game, outscoring the Golden Eagles 44-14 in the paint. Senior forward Taylor Frederick and junior center Hannah Sjerven led the charge with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Sjerven tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points, 13 boards, seven blocks and three steals. She tied her career highs for both blocks and rebounds in the game. Sjerven also moved to fourth on USD’s career blocks chart.
Frederick finished 8-of-10 from the field, scoring her 16 points in 17 minutes. She also grabbed six boards.
Joining the duo in double-figures for the 30th time this season was senior guard Ciara Duffy with 10 points. Junior guard Chloe Lamb added nine points, six assists and five rebounds.
Oral Roberts was led by all-Summit guard Keni Jo Lippe as the only Golden Eagle in double-figures. She scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
A defensive battle in the first quarter tied it up 10-10 in the first 10 minutes, but the Coyotes came out firing in the second period with 14 unanswered points.
Sjerven scored nine points in the second period as the Coyotes outscored the Golden Eagles 25-5. South Dakota’s defense held Oral Roberts to 1-of-20 from the field, with the Coyotes blocking five shots and stealing the ball twice. South Dakota shot a blistering 62 percent for the period.
South Dakota extended its lead to 50-26 at the end of the third. Oral Roberts’ starters made a run in the fourth against the Coyote bench to outscore USD by two in the final frame. The Coyotes came away with a 65-43 victory, its third Summit League Tournament semifinal win over Oral Roberts in five years.
USD shot 40 percent (27-of-68) from the field for the game, while holding Oral Roberts to 21 percent (12-of-56). The Coyotes finished with four 3-pointers, although three of them came in the fourth quarter.
