VERMILLION, S.D. – The Omaha women's basketball team fell to South Dakota, 91-56, on Saturday afternoon inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
With the loss, the Mavericks fell to 13-14 overall and 6-8 in Summit League play, while the Coyotes improved to 22-5 on the season and 11-3 in league action.
Senior forward Michaela Dapprich had a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, including a trio of three-pointers. She added four rebounds and a pair of steals.
Junior guard Marissa Preston had 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Senior forward Mikaela Shaw added six points, four rebounds and two assists.
Ciara Duffy had a team-leading 17 points for South Dakota. Duffy shot 7-of-11 from the field with seven rebounds and three assists. Abigail Fogg added a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards, while Madison McKeever hit four three-pointers en route to 14 points. Allison Arens had 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. Jaycee Bradley and Kaye Liveringhouse each chipped in 10 points.
Omaha shot 31.8 percent (21-of-66) from the floor, 26.5 percent (9-of-34) from long range and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the free throw line. South Dakota finished at 61.1 percent (33-of-54) from the floor, 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from beyond the arc and 93.3 percent (14-of-15) from the line.
The Mavericks and Coyotes were tied, 5-5, at the 7:13 mark of the first quarter on a layup from sophomore center Courtney Vaccher and a three from Preston. South Dakota used a 20-8 over the next six minutes to stretch the lead to 12. Dapprich hit a trey and followed that up with a fast break layup to trim the lead to 25-18 with under a minute remaining. McKeever connected on a three-pointer in the waning moments of the quarter as the Coyotes led 28-18 after the opening 10 minutes.
USD opened the second quarter on a 9-4 run to make the score, 37-22, at the 5:03 mark. The Mavericks trailed by 19 with under two minutes left in the half, but Omaha scored the final four points of the half and trailed at the intermission, 49-34.
South Dakota opened the second half with a 12-7 spurt to increase its lead to 20 (61-41). A Preston 3-pointer brought the lead to 17, but another 7-0 run from the Coyotes stretched it to a 26-point deficit with 2:41 left in the period. Dapprich put a stop on the run with a three-point play as USD took a 73-47 lead at the end of three quarters.
South Dakota limited UNO to two points in the three minutes of the fourth quarter until a layup by Shaw at 6:35. Two free throws from Megan Bonar with 2:18 to go spotted South Dakota its largest lead of the game, 89-53. Six different Coyotes scored in double-figures, helping USD to the 91-56 decision.
Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 22, hosting North Dakota State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1290 KOIL. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
