USD women continue winning streak
The USD Coyotes (18-3, 7-1 Summit) dominated the NDSU Bison (5-16, 3-5 Summit) at home Thursday night with the final score 0f 80-48.
All five starters hit 3-pointers, and the Coyotes were one shy from tying their record of most-made 3-pointers in a game.
Sophomore Jaycee Bradley led the scoring on both sides with 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers from the field. Freshman Ciara Duffy totaled 18 points and lead the Coyotes in assists. Senior Abigail Fogg lead the rebounding effort and scored seven points.
The first quarter ended with the game tied 17-17. USD outscored NDSU 25-10 and the score was 42-27 at the half.
In the third quarter, USD kept the pressure up, forcing three turnovers and scoring 21 points.
The Coyotes grabbed nine boards in the fourth quarter, not allowing NDSU any second-chance scoring opportunities.
Bradley credited the explosive second quarter to Fogg’s presence around the rim, grabbing six rebounds.
“In the second-quarter, we wanted to lock in defensively and take them out of what they wanted to do,” she said. “(Fogg) got a ton of big boards, so that propelled us.”
A huge key to success was 3-point accuracy, as NDSU left USD wide-open beyond the arch. Bradley said this was a huge confidence-booster heading into the home stretch of the season.
“It just shows how versatile we are as a team,” she said. “I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Fogg admitted there was extra motivation in this game, having lost to NDSU on Jan. 4 in Fargo.
“Any time you take a loss, it makes you a bit more hungry,” she said. “The loss in Fargo gave us the opportunity to work on some things that have really made us a better team since then.”
USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit had to scrap the game plan and start shooting threes, instead of driving to the rim.
“Every time we tried to penetrate and get to the rim, there were five green jerseys around us,” she said. “They were making us relegate to taking shots from the perimeter.”
USD is now tied atop the Summit League with SDSU, setting up a great match-up on Feb. 4, when the two interstate teams meet in Brookings.
The USD women’s basketball team will next play on Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. when they host Western Illinois.
