Women’s Basketball Falls to Ranked Opponent
The Coyote women’s basketball team hosted No. 21 Creighton on Thursday. This was the 27th time the Bluejays and Coyotes have played one another. The Coyotes lead the overall matchup 14-12 with their last game being in Omaha when the Coyotes won 73-71 in 2021.
Creighton’s junior guard/forward Morgan Maly opened the scoring with a layup after she grabbed an offensive rebound.
South Dakota then went on a 7-2 run thanks to a four point surge from sophomore guard Grace Larkins.
The Coyotes finished the first quarter ahead 19-12.
In the second quarter, the Bluejays were able to grab a lead as they went on a 21-3 run. Creighton went into halftime with a 33-22 lead.
The Coyotes came out of the half with Larkins making a three-pointer and senior guard Madison Grange scoring two free throws for five straight points. Creighton answered back with a scoring run of their own as they scored six straight points from junior guard Molly Mogensen and Maly.
Creighton finished the third quarter with a Maly buzzer beating layup to extend their lead to 52-38.
The Bluejays’ offense was too much for the Coyotes as Creighton added 22 more points in the fourth quarter, compared to the Coyotes’ 13.
Ultimately, the Bluejays defeated the Coyotes 74-51.
Maly led the game in scoring as she scored 21 points for the Bluejays. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Mogensen was just behind Maly with 16 points and four assists.
Larkins was the only Coyote to score double digit points in the game with 20. She also had two steals, a block and six rebounds. The Coyotes had two other players grab six rebounds: Grange and senior forward Jeniah Ugofsky.
Creighton shot 47.1 percent from the field as they made 32 of their 68 shots. Creighton also went to the free throw line eight times, making six of the eight shots.
South Dakota shot 30.2 percent from field goal range. The Coyotes shot 53.85 percent in the first quarter and 8.33 in the second.
The Coyotes were unable to tally double digit assists in the game, with their sole four assists coming from Larkins and Grange, with two each.
South Dakota’s record falls to 1-1 on the season with their next game on the road against Bradley on Sunday at 2 p.m.
