Game Story
For the fourth straight year, and the eighth time in the past nine seasons, the USD Women’s Basketball team is heading to the Summit League Championship game.
The Coyote women won their 11th straight game against NDSU 81-55 and will play 8-seed Omaha tomorrow at 1pm. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
North Dakota State’s Reneya Hopkins started the game off with a triple from the wing, giving NDSU a 3-0 lead. They would not lead in the game again. That was quickly followed by a 8-0 Coyote run. South Dakota led at the first media timeout 10-9, with eight of those points coming from Chloe Lamb. South Dakota would continue to control the paint as they finished the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 19-10 lead going into the second quarter.
USD continued to pour it on to start the second quarter. Back to back buckets by Lamb and Sjerven put the Coyotes ahead 23-10. NDSU went nearly six minutes without a basket in the second quarter but luckily a quick basket for the Bison cut the lead to 28-16 before Chloe Lamb hit back to back threes to push the lead to 20 points, 38-18. The Bison would get a few points from Reneya Hopkins to help close the half on a 8-4 run. NDSU trailed 42-26 at the break. USD’s Sjerven saw just 11 minutes in the first half due to early foul trouble. Nonetheless, the Coyote’s defense was suffocating as they held NDSU to only one three-pointer made in the entire half. North Dakota State’s bench did a great job in the first half though, outscoring the Coyotes 14-2 in the first half.
NDSU was able to trim the deficit to 46-33 early in the third quarter, but Liv Korngable and Allison Peplowski helped spark a 9-2 run to get the lead up to 20 at 55-35. NDSU did much better in the paint during the third quarter. They just couldn’t get anything to fall from the outside, going 1-2 from beyond the arc during the quarter. The quarter ended with the Coyotes up 64-44.
The fourth quarter began just like the other quarters: USD scoring quick and often. Jeniah Ugofsky tacked up five straight points, later followed by five straight from Maddie Krull to give the Coyotes a 76-52 lead. The Coyotes fired from all cylinders with most starters sitting most of the quarter. NDSU was unable to get anything going again, going 2-10 from the field in the fourth quarter. The Coyotes showed how dangerous and deep they are en route to a final score of 81-55.
Of all the things USD did well today, they kept NDSU’s Heaven Hamling in check. The redshirt-sophomore was held to only seven points on 2-11 shooting. Chloe Lamb talked about how they were able to do that in today’s press conference. She said, “ We learned from our past games so we just tried to limit her shots today.”
One Coyote that stepped up huge today was Jeniah Ugofsky. While she finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds, it was her defense that helped USD maintain their lead. Coach Plitzuweit thought her sophomore from Harrisburg, SD “did an extremely good job coming in for Hannah”.
While USD moves on, one cannot ignore the progress that Coach Jory Collins and his young Bison team made this season. His team finished 16-10 (9-7) and earned the three seed at this year’s conference tournament. Dawn elaborated on Jory’s success. “Jory has done an amazing job. His team is so well-disciplined and well-versed in what they are doing”, she said.
The second-seeded Coyotes move on to face the eight-seeded Mavericks of Omaha tomorrow at 1pm. The game will be televised on ESPNU (although I wish it could be MIDCO).
How’d I do in my prediction?
I predicted a “3-point barrage” today and I don’t think I’d classify it as such. USD finished 7-17 from deep while NDSU finished 3-15. I was expecting way more. USD definitely utilized the post today, especially early on. USD make six more free-throws than the Bison in this one. I had USD winning by 10-15 so obviously wrong there.
Player Notes
South Dakota
Liv Korngable led all scorers with 20 points on 8-11 shooting (3-4 from deep); Chloe Lamb finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists; Maddie Krull contributed 13 points.
North Dakota State
Reneya Hopkins scored a team-high 13 points and secured five rebounds; Kadie Deaton added 10 points on 4-9 shooting.
Some Stats Before You Go
NDSU shot 33.9% from the field (19-56); USD shot 51.9% (27-52)
Both USD and NDSU had 33 rebounds
NDSU led the game 3-0 and would not lead the rest of the game
Hannah Sjerven played for just 14:34
USD has now won 11 straight vs NDSU