Women's Basketball

Strong second stanza leads Coyotes past Denver into the semifinals

The Basics
Score: No. 3 South Dakota 61, No. 6 Denver 50
Records: South Dakota (23-8, 12-4 SL), Denver (11-19, 5-11 SL)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 3 seed South Dakota knocked out No. 6 seed Denver thanks to a 61-50 victory in Friday's second quarterfinal of the Summit League Women's Basketball Championship at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. Senior Angelina Robles led the Coyotes in scoring with 21 points, while Patience Williams added 16 in a game USD never trailed after the first quarter. 

After a tight opening stanza that saw the lead exchanged four times, the Coyotes dominated the second stanza, outscoring the Pioneers 18-7 to take a 33-19 lead into the break. USD also forced DU into 12 turnovers, turning those miscues into 13 points to aid in constructing the double-digit halftime lead.

Robles, who was playing against her former team, and Williams each had six of their respecitve 10 first-half points in that second quarter where the Coyotes went 5-for-10 from field and 7-for-9 from the foul stripe, while limiting the Pioneers to a 2-for-13 clip, including 0-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Any thoughts by DU of a comeback out of the break were quickly dashed by hot three-point shooting by Robles and company. The senior guard made two triples and Elise Turrubiates added another during an 80-second stretch that saw USD extend its lead to 44-23.

Denver put together its best quarter too late, scoring 21 in the fourth but the Coyotes never let their lead get below double figures. DU's Brooke Murrell led the Pios with 13 points while leading scorer Coryn Watts was limited to 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting as the Pioneers went just 4-for-21 from beyond the arc for the contest.  

No. 3 seed South Dakota will play No. 2 seed South Dakota State in Saturday’s second women’s semifinal at 2:30 p.m. CT.

Turning Point
South Dakota held DU without a field goal for the opening seven minutes of the second quarter to pad their lead from three to start the quarter to 12 before Brooke Murrell made a putback for the Pioneers. Murrell's make was one of just two makes in the stanza.
 
Inside the Box Score 
  • USD made four of its five 3-pointers in the second half after just a 1-for-6 start -- DU finished 4-for-21 for the game from deep.
  • Both teams finished with 16 turnovers but the Coyotes turned those DU miscues into 22 points, while the Pios had just 11 points off turnovers.  
  • Coyote forward Josie Hill went 4-for-4 from the field to finish with eight points and added a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.
News & Notes
  • The Coyotes are set up to play SDSU in the tournament for the first time since the 2022 title game the Coyotes won 56-45 -- USD is 3-6 all-time vs. the Jackrabbits in league postseason play.
  • Eight of those previous USD-SDSU matchups have come in title games with the other being a semifinal tilt in 2014 won by USD 72-58.
  • USD's Robles averaged 11.0 ppg in three previous tournament appearances for the Pioneers before transferring prior to the season -- she picked up her first win today with her 12th 20-plus point game of the campaign.
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