Nov. 26—NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The University of South Dakota women’s basketball team notched a season-high scoring output en route to a 79-69 victory over Dayton on Tuesday during the first of two games for the Coyotes at the Music City Classic.
Grace Larkins and Alexi Hempe paced the Coyotes with big performances. Larkins matched a career-high with 34 points on 50% shooting from the field with seven rebounds as well. Meanwhile, Hempe scored a career-high 23 points in the matchup to go along with eight rebounds of her own.
The Coyotes got out to an early advantage of 19-9 through the first quarter with a stifling defense that only allowed the Flyers to shoot 22% from the field in the opening 10 minutes. The advantage grew by halftime, with USD leading 41-29 at the intermission.
Dayton was the team to come out of the locker room on the front to start the third quarter though. The Flyers began to close the gap, hitting as many field goals in the third quarter as they did in the first two combined. However, the Coyotes still held a 59-52 advantage thanks to seven points from Hempe in the final four minutes of the quarter. Larkins and Hempe stayed hot as the two combined for 13 of the Coyotes’ 20 points in the fourth quarter as they went on to close out the Flyers for their third win of the season and third straight.
For Dayton, Nicole Stephens led the way with 15 points, Arianna Smith was right behind with 14 points of her own, while Ivy Wolf also finished in double-figures with 13.
USD (3-4) will finish out the Music City Classic against Arizona State at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
