Women's Basketball

Second-seeded South Dakota rolls into title game

Press Conference: South Dakota | North Dakota State

The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota 81, No. 3 North Dakota State 55
Records: South Dakota (18-5) | North Dakota State (15-9)
Location: The Sanford Pentagon - Sioux Falls, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Second-seeded South Dakota rolled to its fourth straight Summit League Women's Basketball Championship game defeating third-seeded North Dakota State 81-55 in Monday's second semifinal at the Sanford Pentagon.

USD led by nine after the first quarter, extended that margin to 16 by halftime and the Coyotes were up by 20 going into the final quarter before finishing off the 26-point victory. The Coyotes have won their last four tournament semifinal tilts by an average of 21 points.
 


Senior Liv Korngable led a quartet of Coyotes in double figures with 20 points as her team shot 52 percent from the field while holding the Bison to just a 34 percent clip. 

Korngable went 8-for-11 from the field while classmate Chloe Lamb added 18 on 7-of-12 shooting to pace the USD shooting efforts. Both players made a trio of 3-pointers and Lamb made a layup to get the scoring started in the second quarter that gave the Coyotes their first double-digit lead of the game. That margin never got back into single digits the rest of the way.

Defensively, the Coyotes limited Summit League Newcomer of the Year Heaven Hamling to just seven points after she averaged 24.5 ppg in two games in Vermillion last weekend. Reneya Hopkins led the Bison with 13 points while Kadie Deaton contributed 10 points off the bench.
 
South Dakota will face No. 8 seed Omaha in The Summit League Championship title game at 1 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

Turning Point
The Coyotes went 9-for-13 from the field in the second quarter to outscore the Bison 23-16 and take a 16-point halftime lead 

Inside the Box Score

  • The Coyotes went 7-for-17 from beyond the arc while holding the Bison to a 3-for-15 effort  
  • Hopkins' 3-pointer to open the game provided NDSU with its only lead of the contest
  • The rebounding battle was even at 33-33, but 16 of NDSU's total came on the offensive end where they had 11 second-chance points

News & Notes

  • The Coyotes advanced to their fourth straight tournament title game and have won those semifinal contests by an average of 21 points
  • The semifinal appearance was the second straight for the Bison who made their first in program history in 2020

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