– Chelsea Gardner’s double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds led the Kansas Jayhawks to a 68-60 win over the South Dakota women’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon.
The Jayhawks used a 13-5 run over the final 2:22 of the game to win their season opener. The Coyotes had the lead on several occasions in the game and held a 55-53 advantage with 3:47 left, but made just two baskets, had four turnovers and committed eight fouls down the stretch.
Overall, the Coyotes led or tied the Jayhawks for 19 minutes and 27 seconds. The game had 11 lead changes and was tied 17 times.
Nicole Seekamp was the Coyotes leading scorer with 21 points while Raeshel Contreras added 17 points. Post player Margaret McCloud recorded her seventh career double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Outside Gardner, Kansas received 15 points from Natalie Knight and 11 points from Lauren Aldridge. All of Aldridge’s points came off of free throws.
Kansas made more free throws than USD shot, shooting 28-for-36 from the charity stripe while USD made 16 of its 21 attempts. Kansas also held a 32-26 advantage in points in the paint.
USD lost the turnover battle 19-11, but outscored Kansas in points off of turnovers, 21-18. USD also out-rebounded the Jayhawks 48-37, with 21 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end of the floor.
Seekamp scored 14 points in the first half, shooting 5-for-11 with a pair of 3-pointers. South Dakota had more offensive rebounds (16) than defensive (11) during that half and had its largest lead of three points with 7:43 remaining. However, Kansas took a 33-32 lead at halftime behind 13 points from Gardner.
Contreras was USD’s leading scorer in the second half with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting. The Coyotes withstood a 13-5 run by Kansas out of the break, and fought back with a 12-1 run of their own over a seven minute stretch to take a 49-47 lead with 8:35 remaining. South Dakota held the Jayhawks to 0-for-9 shooting and forced three turnovers during that stretch.
Kansas scored 15 of the last 20 points in the game, and scored its last 11 points from the free-throw line.
South Dakota will be back on the road this upcoming week as they head west to play Portland State on Wednesday at 9 p.m. CT. They’ll also play at Washington on Thursday at 9 p.m. CT.
