South Dakota falls to Oral Roberts 70-50 in Summit League Quarterfinals
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Courtesy of South Dakota Athletics) – Playing in the opening game of the Summit League Quarterfinals Thursday morning, South Dakota fell behind early and ultimately fell to the second seed in the tournament, Oral Roberts, 70-50 inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. Grace Larkins, playing in her 132nd game as a Coyote, recorded her 30th career double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. She also had five assists. Her 132 games played ties her with Taylor Frederick for 10th in USD history. Larkins scored all 11 of USD's points in the first quarter, but didn't score in the second. After trailing 16-11 at the end of the one quarter, The Coyotes needed over five minutes in the second quarter to get on the board. Despite the lengthy scoring drought, The Yotes were able to battle back and trail by just nine, 30-21 at the half. The Coyote scoring struggles continued throughout the third quarter. South Dakota managed four points in the quarter, all scored by Larkins, who also had four rebounds in the quarter. After Oral Roberts opened up their largest lead of the game at 29 points with 7:08 to play, the Coyotes managed to break the pressure Oral Roberts started applying in the second half. When things were all said and done, The Coyotes were able to get the lead back to 20. Larkins and fellow senior Alexi Hempe led the Yotes with nine and eight points in the fourth quarter. USD converted 60% of their shots in the quarter and ended the quarter on a 7-0 run, but the struggles early on were too much for the Coyotes to overcome. Outside of Larkins' double-double, Hempe scored 11 points and added four rebounds. Gabby Wilke had eight points for the Yotes, who shot 35% from the field and 21% from three. Larkins climbed to fourth in USD history in rebounds, totaling 896 rebounds in her four years as a Yote. She also finishes with 2,089 points, the second most in USD history and 519 assists, the fifth most. Head coach Carrie Eighmey's first season with the Coyotes comes to a close with Thursday's result. Eighmey and the Coyotes finish the year with an 11-20 record overall and a 5-11 conference record. NOTABLES• South Dakota concludes their season with a 11-20 record, including a 1-3 record in neutral site games.• Larkins recorded 24 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double, her 30th in her career and 16th this season.• Alexi Hempe added 11 points to wrap up her Coyote career.• A 17-0 run for Oral Roberts in the third quarter gave the Golden Eagles a lead the Coyotes couldn't overcome.• South Dakota is now 23-9 in Summit League Tournament games.
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