Nov. 18—VERMILLION — University of South Dakota women’s basketball captured its first victory of the season on Monday with a convincing 74-50 win over Bellevue.
Carley Duffney paced the Coyotes with a team-high 23 points on 60% shooting from the field. Alexi Hempe added 18 points and five rebounds while Grace Larkins had a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double with a 50% shooting mark from the field. Coral Mason finished with four points but added 10 rebounds.
The Coyotes held a 19-13 advantage after the first quarter, but the Bruins kept things close going into the second quarter. They were right on the Coyotes’ tails and only trailed by three with eight and a half minutes left in the second quarter. However, USD was able to pull away a bit before halftime and led 40-31 at the intermission.
The Coyotes came out of the locker room and immediately put some sizable distance on the Bruins. They started the half on a 15-4 scoring run to push the lead 20 points at 55-35 with 4:17 left in the third quarter. Seven of those 15 points during the run were scored by Duffney. By the end of the third quarter, the Coyotes were way out in front 61-40.
Another scoring run, this time nine straight points from USD, to start the fourth quarter extended the lead even further to 27 points with under five minutes remaining. The Coyotes held steady the rest of the way to nab their first victory of the season.
For the NAIA-level Bruins (5-1), who played the game as an exhibition, Gabby Moore and Ashtyn Arnold each scored 12 points. Kaylee Denker added seven points and nine rebounds.
USD (1-4) will be back in action Thursday, Nov. 21 in Vermillion to face North Carolina Central.
