The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota 75, No. 7 Western Illinois 49
Records: South Dakota (25-5), Western Illinois (14-15)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 2 seed South Dakota earned its spot in the 2022 Summit League Women's Championship semifinals with a 75-49 victory over No. 7 seed Western Illinois Saturday afternoon.
 
USD leaned on its league-leading defense and balanced offensive attack in the win, forcing 24 Leatherneck turnovers while 10 Coyotes tallied points.
 
Grace Larkins led all scorers with a career-high 23-point showing off the bench, going 9-18 from the field while sinking all four of her free throw attempts.
 
Hannah Sjerven just missed a double-double, finishing with 11 points and eight boards, while Liv Korngable added 10 in the scoring column to go with a team-best four assists.
 
Western Illinois’ Danni Nichols paced her squad with 17 points and Evan Zars had 10. Zars and Elizabeth Lutz each had five rebounds for the Leathernecks.
 
The Coyotes fired out of the gates on both ends of the court, turning four-straight WIU turnovers into nine unanswered points. Western found its footing after an early timeout, and with two minutes left in the quarter had tied it at 13-13 on a Zars’ layup, which capped an 8-0 run.
 
USD recovered to build a 21-15 lead by the end of the quarter and carried that momentum into the second while stretching its lead into double figures. All told, a Larkins layup with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter started a pivotal 18-2 Coyote rally that ended with Maddie Krull’s jumper at 6:06 in the second.
 
Ahead 33-16 at that point, South Dakota again saw the Leathernecks look to answer with seven-straight before the four-minute mark to cut it to 10, but that was as close as WIU came the rest of the way.
 
Neither team established control through the first half of the third, but with five minutes to go Kyah Watson and Korngable buried back-to-back triples to spark the Coyote offense once more.
 
USD stretched its lead to 20 (57-37) by the end of the third, and over the final 10 minutes continued to push, leading by as many as 26 on its way to a fifth consecutive semifinal appearance.
 
The Coyotes will face the winner of No. 3 Kansas City and No. 6 North Dakota State in Monday’s 3 p.m. semifinal.
 
Turning Point
Tied at 13 with 2:00 left in the first quarter, USD outscored WIU by 15 over the next 12 minutes to carry a 41-26 lead into the break. Grace Larkins scored 15 of USD’s 28 points in that stretch.

Inside the Box Score

• USD took control in the first half with a 17-2 advantage in points off turnovers. WIU was tagged for 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes while USD committed three, including zero in the first quarter.
• Western Illinois outshot the Coyotes from the field, 42.2 to 41.2 percent, but saw USD bury 28 total field goals compared to the Leathernecks’ 19 field goals.
• 12 Coyotes appeared in the game and 10 scored. As well, nine of those grabbed at least one rebound.

News & Notes

• South Dakota has reached the semifinals in 9 of its 10 Summit League Tournament appearances with five consecutive trips.
• Chloe Lamb moved into a tie with Ciara Duffy for sixth on USD’s all-time scoring chart with 1,793 career points. She and Duffy are also tied for 13^th on The Summit League’s list.
• Grace Larkins surpassed her previous career best (16) on the final basket of the first half, heading to the locker room with 17 points on the box score.