A quick start proved to be the difference Thursday night for the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team.

The Coyotes’ 67-49 win over Black Hills State included an 18-point lead after nine minutes at the DakotaDome. Thereafter it included a lot of scrapping against the eighth-ranked NAIA Division II team in the nation.

USD (3-3) struggled with turnovers against BHSU after the early blitz. Though the Yellow Jackets never wilted in the way NAIA teams that give up a 21-0 run are supposed to, the Coyotes never gave in to the idea of an upset, either.

“We really wanted to come out and take control of the game,” USD guard Annie Roche said. “That kind of a start builds the adrenaline and it gets everyone interested. Now we need to be able to do it for 40 minutes.”

The Coyotes hit a very warm 56 percent from the floor against the Yellow Jackets (8-3), but buckled at times against their defensive pressure.

Turnovers have been an issue for USD against most opponents this season, regardless of level. With 23 giveaways against BHSU, there was no dramatic improvement on that count.
“You have to give some of the credit to Black Hills State for that,” USD coach Ryun Williams said. “We weren’t able to take away their spirit in this one. They kept playing.”

Trailing 6-3 after BHSU’s Jenna Bolstad hit a layup, the Coyotes answered with 21 consecutive points. Teresa Case, whose former Roosevelt teammate Alana Dykhouse starts for the Yellow Jackets, hit a 3-pointer with 11:17 to go in the half that made it 24-6.

“Offensively and defensively, that’s as well as we’ve played all year,” Williams said. “It was very passionate, very intense, and the execution was there. We just have to learn to sustain it. That was the biggest lesson out of tonight. Maybe we took our foot of the throat a little bit there.”

Black Hills State closed the game to 42-32 with a pair of free throws from Keely Krolickowski with 13:49 to go, but that was as close as it got.

The Yellow Jackets continued to pester the Coyote offense, particularly on the perimeter, but USD continued to shoot well when they weren’t giving up the ball on a steal

An Abby Kinder 3-pointer pushed the lead back up to 56-36 with 9:08 left and USD led by by 12 or more the rest of the way.

“I thought we came out a little flat,” said Black Hills State coach Mark Nore. “We were a little startled right away. We’re not used to playing teams that physical, but we re-grouped pretty well in the second half. A game like this gives us a great opportunity to get better.”

The Yellow Jackets, who had nine players get 11 minutes of more of playing time, were led by Krolikowski with nine points. Amber Hegge led USD with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Kinder added 15 points.

USD now travels to Northern Iowa on Sunday for a return game with the Panthers, who lost to the Coyotes at the DakotaDome last season.

“We have to expect they’re going to try to pressure us if they’ve seen any of our game films this year,” Williams said. “We just have to get better at staying consistent. I don’t mean we have to shoot 70 percent like we did to start out tonight, but we need to be able to keep things together for 35 to 40 minutes.”
BLACK HILLS STATE (8-3)

Janna Schriber 3-3 2-3 7, Brittany Fuhrman 0-6 0-0 0, Katelynn Lamb 1-4 5-6 7, Jenna Bolstad 3-7 0-2 6, Alana Dykhouse 1-3 0-1 2, Krist Ryan 1-2 0-1 3, Morgan Mines 2-6 1-2 5, Keely Krolikowski 3-7 2-2 9, Tiffany Thomas 3-4 0-1 6, Callie Bechtel 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Connelly 1-4 0-0 2, Mandy Brumfield 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Johnson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals – 19-49 9-17 49.
USD (3-3)

Annie Roche 5-9 0-0 12, Jackie Hiebert 0-1 0-0 0, Amber Hegge 6-9 3-6 16, Teresa Case 3-5 0-0 8, Jasmine Mosley 3-5 0-0 6, Emily Guenther 00-0 0-0 0, Smantha Mehr 0-1 0-0 0, Abby kinder 6-8 1-2 15, Kira Iverson 1-5 3-4 5, Pam January 0-0 0-0 0, Jamie Young 2-3 1-3 5. Totals – 26-46 8-14 67.

Halftime score – USD 40, BHSU 25. 3-pointers – BHSU 2-10 (Fuhrman 0-4, Ryan 1-2, Mines 0-1, Krolikowski 1-2), USD 7-18 (Roche 2-5, Hegge 1-2, Case 2-4, Mehr 0-1, Kinder 2-2, Iverson 0-3, Young 0-1). Rebounds – BHSU 20, USD 38. Fouls – BHSU 17, USD 15. Assists – BHSU 5 (Lamb 2), USD 17 (Case 5). Turnovers – BHSU 15, USD 24. Blocked shots – BHSU 0, USD 3 (Hegge, Guenther, Kinder 1). Steals – BHSU 8 (Thomas 2, Brumfield 2), USD 8 (Case 3).

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20091211/SPORTS0203/912110339/1078/SPORTS