South Dakota senior guard Nicole Seekamp scored eight of her 24 points in overtime to lead the Coyotes to a 92-87 win against Drake Thursday inside the DakotaDome.
South Dakota (4-3) won its 17th consecutive home game which is the seventh-longest active streak in the nation. Drake (6-1) entered as one of 23 undefeated teams. The Bulldogs of the Missouri Valley are receiving votes in the USA Today Sports Top 25 and are 16 in the latest RPI rankings.
Seekamp converted a three-point play on the first possession of overtime and made five free throws in the final 30 seconds. She made 2 of 2 with 11 seconds left to give the Coyotes a 90-87 lead. Caitlin Duffy was fouled following a Drake turnover and made two from the line with four seconds left to secure the win.
Seekamp is the Summit Preseason Player of the Year. She squared off against the Valley’s Preseason Player of the Year, junior Lizzy Wendell, who was equally impressive.
Wendell scored a game-high 26 points and hit a game-tying 3 with one second left in regulation to force overtime. She was 8 of 15 from the field and 5 of 10 from long range. She also had three of Drake’s 10 steals.
Duffy hit four 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of regulation to help the Coyotes rally from an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit. South Dakota trailed 59-51 with 8:23 to go, but made 11 of 18 shots and totaled 28 points from that point until the end of regulation. Duffy, who scored 17 points, hit a 3 with four seconds left to give the Coyotes a 79-76 lead before Wendell answered on the other end.
The difference on the stat sheet was a 54-33 rebounding edge for South Dakota that included 27 offensive rebounds for the Coyotes and three for Drake. Bridget Arens hit the offensive glass for five rebounds and totaled seven. South Dakota had 17 second-chance points compared to one by the Bulldogs.
Drake got 18 points from Maddy Dean and 15 points and 10 rebounds from Emma Donahue. South Dakota got 11 points off the bench from Kate Liveringhouse and 10 points, five rebounds and four assists from point guard Tia Hemiller.
South Dakota’s bench outscored Drake’s 28-17. In addition to the 11 from Liveringhouse, the Coyotes got seven from Jaycee Bradley. It was a 3 by Bradley that first cut into Drake’s 59-51 lead in the fourth quarter. Arens had five points to go with her seven boards.
South Dakota next hosts the Portland State Vikings at 2 p.m. Saturday in Vermillion. The Vikings dropped to 0-6 Thursday following a 74-65 loss in Brookings against South Dakota State.
