Karius and Peterson Fall in First Matchup Versus Jackrabbits

The men’s and women’s basketball teams faced off against in-state rival South Dakota State on Saturday.

This marked the first time that head women’s basketball coach Kayla Karius and head men’s basketball coach Eric Peterson have faced off against the Jackrabbits. 

The Women’s team fell 59-118 in Brookings and the men’s team was defeated 64-82 in Vermillion.

In the opening moments of the game, redshirt forward Alexi Hempe drained a three point shot giving the Coyotes an early 3-0 lead. The Coyotes were able to hold on to that lead for the first four and a half minutes of game time however,  the Jackrabbits went on a 17-0 run over a four minute span SDSU never looked back leading the rest of the way.

At the end of the first quarter the Coyotes trailed 14-30.

The Jackrabbits went on a 13-2 run midway through the second quarter which extended their lead to 31 at halftime as the Coyotes trailed 30-61.

Freshman forward Walker Demers scored the first seven points for the Coyotes in the second half. She was then subbed out for redshirt freshman forward Carley Duffney who hit four free-throws in the quarter, the two combined for 11 of the Coyotes 13 points in the third quarter.

Even with the efforts from Demers and Duffney, the Jackrabbits still pulled ahead increasing their lead to 94-43 at the end of the third. 

Just under two minutes into the fourth quarter, redshirt senior forward Myah Selland made a three pointer to put 100 points on the scoreboard for SDSU.

The final buzzer sounded as the Jackrabbits defeated the Coyotes 118-59.

The Coyotes finished the day shooting 35.2% from the field compared to the Jackrabbits 60%.

Duffney led the Coyotes in scoring with 14 points and went a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Grace Larkins also finished with double digits with 10 points on the day.

South Dakota ended the game in foul trouble with four coyotes each having four fouls in the game (Demers, Duffney, Larkins, and sophomore forward Morgan Hansen).

The Jackrabbits’ senior forward Paiton Burchard led the way  with 22 points, four rebounds, and eight assists in the win. She was joined by five other Jackrabbits in double digit scoring.

South Dakota State remains on top of the Summit League standings as South Dakota finds themselves tied for third with North Dakota.

The Coyotes will travel to Denver to take on the Pioneers on Thursday. They will then wrap up the weekend against the Omaha Mavericks on Saturday.

Over 4,600 people filed inside the Sanford Coyote Sport Center (SCSC) to watch the men’s teams battle it out with the winner gaining sole possession of third place in conference standings.

Returning for the Coyotes Peterson who has been away from the team for over a month after sustaining some injuries after falling at home preparing for the holidays.

The first 10 minutes of the game the two teams traded basket for basket not allowing the other to go up by more than one possession. 

The Jackrabbits then went on a 16-0 run which held the Coyotes scoreless for six minutes. 

South Dakota sophomore guard Max Burchill scored seven straight points to pull within eight points of the Jackrabbits. 

SDSU went on a 6-0 run of their own, to close out the first half as they led 39-25.

The Jackrabbits’ senior forward Matt Dentlinger recorded 14 points and four rebounds in the first half shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.

Dentlinger picked up right where he left off, scoring the first six points in the second half for SDSU.

The Coyotes were able to get the lead down to 13 points early in the half but that’s as close as the deficit would be as the Jackrabbits left Vermillion with the 82-64 win to take sole possession of third place in the Summit League Standings. 

With the loss the Coyotes drop to fifth where they are tied with Kansas City.

Four Coyotes ended the day in double digit scoring, sophomore guard Paul Bruns (16), senior guard Mason Archambault (10), junior guard Kruz Perrott-Hunt (10), and redshirt sophomore guard A.J. Plitzuweit (10).

Dentlinger ended the day with 26 points on 10-11 shooting from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line. He also recorded eight rebounds and two assists in the win. 

He was joined by four other Jackrabbits in double digits including redshirt freshman Matthew Mors from Yankton, South Dakota) who scored 10 points before fouling out.

The Coyotes were out rebounded 27 to 39 in the game giving up nine SDSU offensive rebounds which led to 14 second chance points for the Jackrabbits.

The Coyote men’s team will be back in the SCSC Thursday night where they’ll take on the Denver Pioneers at 7 p.m.