Dec. 7 -- VERMILLION -- Despite watching an 11-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate, the South Dakota women's basketball team fended off a furious comeback from Northern Arizona to defeat the Lumberjacks 84-79.
The Coyotes led 64-53 heading into the fourth quarter with NAU struggling to hit shots constantly. However, with 3:35 left to play, the Lumberjacks took a 70-69 lead with the Coyotes now needing to find a way back. However, USD finished the game outscoring NAU 15-9 to mount a small comeback of its own to pick up the victory.
As usual, Grace Larkins led the way for the Coyotes with a team-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field with five rebounds. Carley Duffney added 16 points while Olivia Kieffer scored 15 and Gabby Wilke added 13 and eight rebounds.
To start off, both teams came out with no fear of taking shots. The two teams combined for 38 shots in the first 10 minutes, but the Coyotes were the more efficient with a 42.1% mark compared to Lumberjacks' 31.6%. That helped USD to a 21-16 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Although both teams continued to shoot into the second quarter, both of their efficiencies took a tick up, but the Coyotes were shooting nearly lights out. They finished the second quarter shooting 64.7% from the field, including 5-for-7 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks were shooting close to 44% but were 3-of-8 from 3-point range.
With that big shooting performance in the second quarter, USD amassed a 48-38 lead at halftime and appeared to be in control. That pace continued into the third quarter and as mentioned previously, the Coyotes led by 11 with only the fourth quarter to go.
But as NAU chipped away at that lead, USD struggled to respond. A 15-5 run over the first six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter eventually put the Lumberjacks in front. Kieffer ended up being the difference over the final three and a half minutes though. She hit three 3s before the end of the game and was responsible for nine of the Coyotes' final 15 points. Duffney was responsible for the other six.
For NAU, Taylor Feldman carried a heavy load of scoring, with 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting and five rebounds. Nyah Moran added 14 points of her own while Sophie Glancey finished with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.
USD (4-6) travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to face UNI on Tuesday, Dec. 10 while NAU (8-2) will return home to face San Francisco on Saturday, Dec. 14.