Nov. 27—NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Playing for the second day in a row, the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team overcame a 16-point first half deficit but fell to Arizona State 95-88 on Wednesday.
Four Coyotes scored in double figures in a game for the first time this season as the team set a new season-high for points with 88. Grace Larkins paced the Coyotes, scoring 30 points for a second consecutive game and sixth time in her career. It also was a double-double as Larkins added 11 assists and she had seven rebounds.
Olivia Kieffer made her presence felt off the bench, scoring a career-high 16 points. Alexi Hempe scored over 20 points for a second straight game, pouring in 21 and adding four rebounds. Carley Duffney finished with 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
South Dakota jumped ahead 7-0 in the first two minutes of the game. Arizona State recovered quickly from the hot start for the Coyotes and took the lead late in the quarter. The Sun Devils started the second quarter blistering as the lead ballooned to 16 with 3:21 to play until halftime.
Larkins and Kieffer hit big shots to help the Coyotes cut the lead to 10 at the half. Larkins had 21 first-half points, the second time this season she scored 20 or more in the opening half. Kieffer hit a big three-pointer late in the half and had seven points in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Coyotes battled back within a possession, 60-58 with 3:27 to play in the third quarter, but the Sun Devils stretched the lead back to 11 by the end of the quarter.
From the 5:05 mark of the fourth quarter to the 3:08 mark, the Coyotes went on an 8-0 run sparked by back-to-back three-pointers from Kieffer and Hempe. Duffney capped the run off with a pair of free throws that made it 84-82.
South Dakota (3-5) is back in action Wednesday, Dec. 4 in Bozeman, Montana, facing Montana State in the first of two games that are a part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Central.
