Nov. 7—VERMILLION, S.D. — Powered by a decisive fourth-quarter push, the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team claimed a 75-50 win over the Air Force Academy on Friday afternoon at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
It was a 49-41 lead for the Coyotes going to the fourth quarter but USD (2-0) sealed the victory with a 26-9 run in the final 10 minutes, including 10-for-12 shooting for the Coyotes and 3-for-15 shooting for the visiting Falcons. It was the Coyotes’ first-ever game against a U.S. service academy.
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The game was 34-28 at halftime, and Air Force cut the margin down to four points early in the second half but could not tie the game again from there. USD led the contest for nearly 35 of the 40 minutes on Friday.
“I think a lot of times, you know, I’ve coached teams where you get up eight or nine, but you can’t really stretch it, you know, and then you let them back in the game,” USD coach Carrie Eighmey said. “And this team, once we got that lead that got to double digits, I just felt like they just stayed locked in and just kept after it.”
Point guard Angelina Robles, a fourth-year senior transfer from Denver, led all scorers with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting for the Coyotes. USD also had 14 points from forward Patience Williams, 12 points from true freshman Tori Schlagel and 11 points from Molly Joyce off the bench. USD shot 57.4% overall from the field and nearly doubled up the Falcons in the paint, 54-28.
“Angie, she’s definitely somebody that can create her own shots, you know, and the way that they play, they’re pressuring everywhere,” Eighmey said. “So it spreads them out … she was able to use her dribble drive to be able to get to the rim and create opportunities for herself. Today she was playing with a ton of confidence and, you know, we believe in her.”
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After drilling NAIA-level Peru State on Monday in the season opener, the Coyotes passed the test against a much better opponent from the Mountain West Conference, where Air Force was picked to finish eighth.
“The game plan was really to strike first and do what you’re best at,” Robles said. “Everything that we did was in our motion. … Really, we just really did the job and executed.”
It was also Education Day for the Coyotes, inviting local elementary school students to the game. That put a charge into the crowd and boosted the attendance to 1,592 for the 11 a.m. Friday start time.
Air Force was led by 13 points from Milahnie Perry in the loss. Rapid City Stevens graduate Jayda McNabb, a junior guard, had six points and five rebounds in 25 minutes for the Falcons (1-1), who play at Oregon State on Monday, Nov. 10.
USD is back in action on Monday, Nov. 10, hosting NCAA Division III Buena Vista University from Storm Lake, Iowa. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
