by VERMILLION, S.D.– The University of Denver women’s basketball team struggled offensively and South Dakota took advantage, routing the Pioneers, 79-51 inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
On the year, DU falls to 8-7 and 0-1 in the Summit, Meanwhile USD improves to 9-5 and 1-0 in league play.
Lauren Loven and Claire Gritt guided the Crimson and Gold, as they each tallied 10 points. Gritt finished the day a perfect 100 percent from the field (4-for-4) and charity stripe (2-for-2). Loven went 44.4 percent (4-for-9) from field-goal range and 33.3 percent (2-for-6) from behind the arc.
On top of eight points, Grace White (Red Lake Nation) grabbed a pair of steals while Madison Nelson and Jasmine Jeffcoat each led the squad with five rebounds.
As a unit, Denver shot 36.4 percent (16-for-44) from the field and 26.1 percent (6-for-23) from 3-point territory. The team also notched 26 rebounds, forced 18 turnovers and 11 assists.
The South Dakota offense came out hot to start the game, quickly taking a 7-0 lead, capped by a 3 from Madison McKeever.
USD continued to score at will, going on a 13-0 run before a White layup finally put the Pioneers on the board. The freshman added a trey just a few minutes later to cut the Coyotes advantage to only 10.
DU then got its second trey of the game, this time from Carie Weinman, but South Dakota fired back on the other end with a triple from Ciera Duffy.
With less than a second left in the first, USD’s Jaycee Bradley scored three points on an old-fashion tree-point play and pushed the lead to 15 points, 26-11.
The Coyotes continued to chalk up points in the second period, as the team went on a 5-2 run over the first three minutes.
Denver finally cut the margin to 14 points thanks to a trey from Loven. The 3 started an 8-2 run for the Crimson and Gold and the squad entered the locker room at the break only down by 11, 39-28.
At the half, Loven led the way for the Pioneers with nine points, shooting 60 percent (3-for-5) from the field. As a whole, DU shot 43.5 percent (10-for-23) from field-goal range and 40 percent (6-for-15) from 3-point territory.
As a team, Denver recorded 12 rebounds, forced seven turnovers and had seven assists through the first 20 minutes of play.
South Dakota regained some momentum at the start of the third quarter, as the Coyotes started the period with five quick points from Kate Liveringhouse and Duffy.
DU struggled over the first six minutes of the third, as USD went on a dominating 13-5 run.
The Pioneers refused to quit, and a free throw from Jahla Osborne had the Pioneers within 16 with 41 seconds to play in the quarter.
However, 16 points was as close as Denver could get, as the Coyotes had no problem running away with the game in the fourth, shooting 50 percent from both the field (7-for-14) and downtown (3-for-6).
The Crimson and Gold will look to rebound on Jan. 2, as they host Utah Valley to finalize its nonleague schedule.
