Coyotes remain unbeaten in conference with thrashing of Mastodons

The Coyotes (18-2, 7-0 CONF) kept their record in the Summit League perfect on Friday with a 79-25 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne (4-15, 0-6 CONF) inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.  

USD has now won seven games in a row, all by at least 21 points.

USD’s defense led the charge, holding the Mastodons to 21% shooting overall and 0% from behind the arc. They did not allow Fort Wayne to score more than four field goals in a single quarter. The team also registered 10 blocks, with junior center Hannah Sjerven, junior guard Monica Arens and senior guards Madison McKeever and Ciara Duffy each rejecting two shots.

“I though our young ladies really did a great job defensively in this battle,” head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said following the game. “Our defense really got us going offensively. I think Fort Wayne is certainly a team that has the ability to stretch it and shoot it from the arc. I thought we were very attentive to trying to get out to our shooters and at the same time trying to limit opportunities at the rim.”

On the opposite end of the floor, USD had four players finish with double figures in scoring. Duffy led all game scorers with 13 points to go with her seven assists and six rebounds. Sjerven totaled 12 points and seven boards in 16 minutes of action and senior forward Taylor Frederick shot 4-5 off the bench with eight points to finish.

The team collectively ripped down 19 offensive boards, something Arens said was a focal point of the team.

“I think that’s just been a focus for us,” Arens said. “A big thing that we wanted to bring to conference to up our game was to crash the offensive boards a little bit harder every game.”

Despite leading by 55 points at one point, Frederick said the players were able to keep the energy up throughout the game and stayed focused.

“With the girls on our team it’s not really hard to keep up the energy at all,” Frederick said. “We have a lot of different personalities and a lot of girls that really like to have fun. And it’s always fun to see the girls who help us prep get to get in the game at the end. We have to step up our energy because they’re stepping up theirs.”

Senior forward Sh’Toya Sanders tallied six points in just 16 minutes of play, while sophomore forward totaled five points, six rebounds and two blocks.

The Coyotes will look to extend their undefeated conference streak at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26 inside the SCSC as they host Oral Roberts.