VERMILLION, S.D. – With over 1,300 elementary and middle schoolers in attendance at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, the South Dakota women’s basketball program picked up its first win of the season and the first win for head coach Carrie Eighmey at South Dakota.
After a roller coaster start to the season, the Coyotes earned a 74-50 win over Bellevue Monday. Less than 48 hours after their first loss of 10 or more points this season, the Coyotes earned their first win, a 24-point victory.
“Ultimately I am proud of our kids, I’m happy for them,” Eighmey said. “We’ve had a tough stretch where we’ve had games come down to one possession and some of those have not gone our way, but that doesn’t mean that our kids haven’t been putting in the work and doing the things it takes to get better, so I’m happy for them and proud of their effort today.”
Multiple Coyotes had career games Monday, including a career-high 23 points from Carley Duffney. She also tied her career best with six assists. Alexi Hempe matched a career high with 18 points, including matching career highs in field goals made (6) and three-pointers made (4). Hempe also had six rebounds.
Grace Larkins recorded her second double-double of the season in the win. A total of 17 points and 13 rebounds earned Larkins her 16th career double-double. She also had five assists and four steals.
Coral Mason made her first start as a Coyote with students of her hometown Viborg-Hurley school in attendance. Mason played 30 minutes, grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds and a career-high 3 steals.
Coach Eighmey’s first win at USD is her 249th career coaching victory. It snaps a five-game USD losing skid dating back to last season.
It was also the first Education Day hosted by USD women’s basketball. In total, over 1,300 students grade K-8 attended Monday’s game.
“It’s a win-win,” Eighmey said. “There are elementary students here today that may never have another opportunity to be at a college basketball game and one of the things we talked about as a team is making sure that that’s a memorable experience for those kids.”
USD stays at home to take on NC Central Thursday at 7 p.m.
Notables:
• South Dakota now sits at 1-4 on the season and 1-2 in home games.
• The Coyotes are now 4-0 vs Bellevue.
• Carley Duffney scored a career-high 23 points and tied a career best with six assists.
• This is Duffney’s 6th 20-plus point scoring game and 10th straight double-digit scoring effort.
• Alexi Hempe tied three career bests with 18 points, 6 made field goals, and 4 made three-pointers.
• Coral Mason earned her first career start at USD, playing 30 minutes and recording two career-highs: rebounds (10) and steals (3).
• Grace Larkins’ 17-point, 13-rebound double-double is the 16th of her career and 2nd this season.
• With three made free throws, Larkins is 7th in USD history with 326. Next on the list is Bridget Yoerger with 347.
• Larkins also climbed the record books in career assists, adding five to her total, which is now 376, and good for ninth in USD history. Five more and she will move into eighth, passing Shelby Petersen (380).
• Nine of the ten Coyotes who played scored.
• In the first Education Day game, the Coyotes hosted over 1,300 K-8 students.