Polly Harrington scored 15 points and Sully Buttes graduate Alexis Yackley recorded nine assists to lead the South Dakota women past Lamar 71-48 in the Women's Basketball Invitational quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.
The win gives the Coyotes (19-15, 10-6 Summit) one more home game as they will host a semifinal matchup with McNeese State (20-14, 11-7 Southland) at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
Harrington shot 7-for-8 in the game and scored 13 points in the first half, while Yackley led the Coyotes in assists and rebounds for the second-straight game. Yackley had eight rebounds and finished the game with 442 career assists, passing Kelly Gese's 439 career assist mark for fourth on USD's all-time assist list.
Tempestt Wilson and Nicole Seekamp added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Seekamp finished the game by scoring her 500th point this season, becoming the eighth player in program history to accomplish that feat.
As a team, USD had 20 assists on 27 field goals, shot 51 percent from the field and held a 32-18 advantage in points in the paint.
Lamar (22-11, 12-6 Southland) was led by Carenn Baylor's 16 points and Gia Ayers' seven points. The Cardinals played most of the game without their all-time leading scorer Kalis Loyd, who played only 12 minutes because of an ankle injury.
South Dakota went on a 24-7 run over the last 7:41 of the first half to take turn a 20-15 deficit into a 39-27 halftime lead. USD shot 10-of-12 during the stretch and clamped down defensively, holding Lamar to 3-for-11 shooting and forcing three turnovers.
The Coyotes continued to shut down Lamar in the second half, holding the Cardinals to 20 percent shooting and never letting the lead shrink to less than 10 points.
If the Coyotes win the semifinal matchup against McNeese State, they will play at Detroit (19-13, 9-7 Horizon League) or Pennsylvania (18-12, 9-5 Ivy League) in the tournament championship next weekend.
SOUTH DAKOTA (19-15): Polly Harrington 7-8 1-2 15, Lisa Loeffler 4-7 0-0 8, Tempestt Wilson 3-8 7-7 14, Alexis Yackley 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Seekamp 6-9 0-0 13, Tia Hemiller 1-2 0-0 2, Sam Mehr 3-8 0-0 8, Pam January 2-3 0-0 5, Margaret McCloud 1-3 4-4 6, Heidi Hoff 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 12-13 71.
LAMAR UNIVERSITY (22-11): Alice Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Dominique Edwards 2-14 1-1 5, Gia Ayers 3-9 0-0 7, Asia Booker 1-3 0-0 3, Carenn Baylor 6-13 1-2 16, Chantelle Brockett 2-5 1-4 5, Kalis Loyd 0-5 2-2 2, Caroline Adesulu 0-2 0-0 0, Jameisha Edwards 1-2 0-0 3, Francesca Bellatin 0-0 0-0 0, Shauna Long 1-5 0-0 3, Bobbi Taylor 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 17-63 7-11 48.
Halftime score - South Dakota 39-27. 3-point field goals - South Dakota 5-15 (Harrington 0-1, Loeffler 0-1, Wilson 1-4, Seekamp 1-2, Mehr 2-6, January 1-1); Lamar 7-22 (Edwards 0-7, Ayers 1-3, Booker 1-1, Baylor 3-6, Edwards 1-2, Long 1-3). Total fouls - South Dakota 15; Lamar 11. Fouled out - None. Rebounds - South Dakota 41 (Yackley 8); Lamar 32 (Baylor 6). Assists - South Dakota 20 (Yackley 9); Lamar 13 (Ayers 3). Blocks - South Dakota 0; Lamar 2 (Brockett 1, Taylor 1). Steals - South Dakota 7 (Wilson 2, Yackley 2); Lamar 10 (Booker 4). Turnovers - South Dakota 17; Lamar 13.