VERMILLION, S.D.— South Dakota junior guard Grace Larkins scored 21 points in leading the Coyotes to a 72-62 win over Kansas City on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,606 fans inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. It was USD’s third annual Native American Heritage Day game with an appearance by 1964 Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, recognition of Native student-athletes at USD including women’s basketball’s own Tori DePerry and a halftime drum performance.
South Dakota (15-7, 4-3) gritted out its second consecutive win headed into February.
Larkins scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, knocking down all three of her 3-point attempts. She made her first six shot attempts of the game with her first miss coming on a late shot clock situation in the third quarter. She added eight rebounds and four assists. Larkins also moved into South Dakota women’s basketball’s top-25 for career scoring on Saturday, passing recent alumnae Madison McKeever and Liv Korngable.
The Roos were led by guard Alayna Contreras’ 24 points with five 3-pointers. Forward Dominique Phillips added 13.
The Coyotes put together one of their best shooting performances of the year in the first half by making 72.2 percent from the field (13-of-18). South Dakota finished the game at 48.8 percent (20-of-41) from the field, the Coyotes’ best shooting night since mid-December.
The game featured seven tie-ups and just one lead change. Kansas City (10-12, 1-6) led until the midway point of the first quarter when Larkins made back-to-back buckets to take a 13-11 advantage.
The Roos did tie up the game again in the second quarter and came within one in the fourth, but South Dakota never relinquished the lead on the scoreboard.
The Coyotes made just three field goals in the final quarter but went 13-of-16 from the line to maintain the lead. One of those field goals was from junior guard Nicole Avila-Ambrosi, who chased down a long offensive rebound for an extra possession and then followed it up by knocking down a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game, 56-52.
Behind Larkins, the Coyotes featured a balanced stat sheet. Fifth-year junior Alexi Hempe joined her in double figures with 11 points and four boards. Fourth-year sophomore Natalie Mazurek scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds. DePerry added eight points on 3-of-3 shooting. Third-year sophomore Carley Duffney finished with seven points from the line and fourth-year junior Kendall Holmes contributed six points.
The Coyotes wrap up the first round of Summit League play next Thursday on the road at North Dakota. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Grand Forks, North Dakota.