Coyote women struggle at home
The University of South Dakota women are going back to basics after losing their second straight home game Saturday night to North Dakota State.
It was a tough game for the Coyotes, who lost by a score of 57-50. The loss puts the team in third place in the Summit League, with a conference record of 6-4 and an overall record of 11-12.
“We just need to go back to basics,” said sophomore Nicole Seekamp. “We have to go back to what we’ve been working on since the start of the season and just build on that and get ready for the last half of the season.”
USD went up early in the game, but a dry spell hurt the Coyotes for much of the first half. But, the Coyotes went on an 11-0 run late in the half, sealed by Sam Mehr’s three point shot to tie the game at 21 by half time.
Margaret McCloud had six points and four rebounds coming off the bench for the team in the half. Nicole Seekamp scored four points and had two assists. Polly Harrington also scored four points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Coyotes.
Senior Dani DeGagne scored 10 first half points for the Bison. Redshirt senior Katie Birkel put up six points and had four rebounds during the first half.
The Coyotes came out fighting during the second half, keeping the Bison’s lead to single digits for the remainder of the game. But lack of free throw shooting and rebounding hurt USD, causing them to lose to NDSU 57-50.
Seekamp scored 19 points and added five assists in the loss, while Harrington completed a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Senior Alexis Yackley had six assists during the game, which was enough to become fifth in USD women’s basketball history in the category.
Birkel scored 24 points for NDSU and also had eight rebounds. DeGagne added 17 points for the Bison with four assists and three rebounds. And freshman Marena Whittle scored nine points.
This is the second straight game where the Coyotes went to the foul line just four times and also lost the ‘battle of the boards’.
“We just need to start getting a little more aggressive and then hopefully we’ll be able to get to the line a little more,” said head coach Amy Williams.
The team is hoping to move on from both of these losses and go to the next game.
“We could have played a lot better, but you just have to let it go and go to the next game,” said Harrington following the game.
The Coyotes will take most of the week off and face Kansas City on Feb. 9 in the Dome at 2 p.m.
