South Dakota took a 42-24 first-half lead and never looked back in its 81-62 win over Valparaiso on Tuesday night at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, North Dakota.
The Coyotes won the their fifth straight game, while the Crusaders dropped their fifth straight game after starting 3-1. Valpo will host Illinois at home Saturday at 1:35 p.m.
South Dakota (7-2) scored the game’s first eight points and used an aggressive defense to force the Crusaders (3-6) into tough shots on the court.
“South Dakota was extremely aggressive and got off fast against us defensively,” Valpo coach Tracey Dorow said. “They did a good job attacking us defensively and they gained a lot of confidence from that.
“They had their hands really active and they took us out of rhythm.”
Dorow said there was not one player on the Coyotes roster that they were focused on stopping; she said the whole starting lineup could score and that her team had their hands full.
“They were very balanced,” she said. “You had to be ready to defend all of them and they did a good job moving the ball.
They’ve got kids that just crashed the boards and they annihilated us on the glass. We have to do a better job battling and rebounding the ball.”
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The Crusaders played a strong second half being outscored by just one point (39-38).
“I thought we competed harder in the second half,” Dorow said. “We didn’t turn it ball over as much and I thought we did a better job executing what we needed to do. We played with a little more determination. You need to do that for 40 minutes. You have to go the whole entire game.”
Dorow said freshman Dani Franklin and Haylee Thompson had strong games for the Crusaders.
“Franklin hit a couple shots early and got us going,” Dorow said. “I thought Haylee did a nice job too. She played 31 minutes and worked her butt off out there.
“As a team, we just have to do a better job taking care of the ball.”