USD women drop to 0-4 in conference play after loss to Western Illinois

Timely scoring and 13 three-pointers were a winning formula Thursday night for Western Illinois as they dropped the University of South Dakota’s women’s basketball team to 0-4 in conference play.

Most of the Western Illinois threes came from the fingers of sophomore guard Michelle Maher, who led all scorers with 27 points in the 81-71 victory. The Leatherbacks went 13-29 from three in the contest and had four players score at least 12 points.

Despite the tough home loss and allowing the big game to Maher, USD head coach Amy Williams said she saw some improvement in her team’s game on both ends of the floor.

“They made us pay every time we had a defensive lapse,” Williams said. “I thought our post players did a great job of being in a stance and making it hard for Ashley Luke all night long. I thought it was a good team effort locking in and focusing on her, but this is a team where they can pick your poison.”

The Coyotes are currently suffering the effects of a four-game losing streak, and the team is hoping the turnaround happens sooner rather than later.

“We can take a lot from this game,” sophomore guard Kelly Stewart said. “Western Illinois is a good team. They just lost two at home, so we knew they were coming in hungry.”

Stewart was one of USD’s sparks in the game with 12 points and five offensive rebounds. After scoring just 29 points in the first half, the Coyotes played a strong second half, outscoring Western Illinois 42-40 in the second frame.

One of Stewart’s second-half threes made it only a five-point game, but the Leathernecks always had a response. Whether it was a Maher three, a three from Paige Harmon or a drive to the basket by Luke, Western Illinois never let the game slip from them.

“We call those dagger threes. I guess you could call them dagger lay-ups too. Where all your momentum’s going and then they just hit one of those, and it kind of deflates you,” Stewart said. “But every player knows you can’t get down on that. Basketball’s a game of mistakes.”

The Coyotes were led by Stewart and sophomore guard Tia Hemiller’s 12 points apiece, but they know being outshot percentage-wise 35.8 percent to 49.1 percent will not get it done, Williams said.

The team will look toward Saturday, when they’ll face the Omaha Mavericks at home beginning at 2 p.m.

“We just have to come back and find a way to stay together right now,” Williams said. “Omaha’s going to come in here and play quite a bit of zone defense, and so we’re going to have to be able to execute very well and shoot the ball a little bit better from the perimeter against their zone.”