South Dakota gains first ever Summit League win at Oakland’s expense

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

ROCHESTER HILLS — South Dakota is in its first tour of the Summit League. The Coyotes gained their first signature win Saturday afternoon in only their second-ever women’s basketball league game.

South Dakota held host Oakland University to a paltry 35.1 percent shooting night (20-for-57 from the floor) and closed with a 12-5 run to upend the Golden Grizzlies, 58-51, at the Athletics Center O’rena.

“This is a nice win for our program. It’s only our second league game and to come here  and beat a good team like Oakland is a nice (benchmark win),” said South Dakota coach Ryun Williams. “These girls have played in four different leagues the past few years. Coming in and getting a nice road win will give us some confidence.”

South Dakota (5-1, 1-1), which completed its two-year transition period to Division I and is in its first school year of competition in the Summit League, held a 52-50 lead on Oakland following a free throw by senior forward Amber Hegge with 1:19 to play. The Coyotes closed out with a 6-1 run after that point, which included a wide-open three by Hegge with 42 seconds left.

Hegge, a preseason first-team all-conference player despite never playing in the conference, finished with a game-high 24 points with 14 rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.

Hegge shot 7-of-10 from the foul line and 8-for-16 from the floor, consistently coming up with the big play in clutch situations. South Dakota was 16-for-21 from the foul line of the night to create some breathing room, compared to Oakland’s 8-of-13 performance from the stripe.

“Once again I thought we had a very strong defensive game,” said Oakland coach Beckie Francis. “We held them to 36 percent shooting from the floor. I am also happy with our defense having held a team to 58 points, but if you have a cold shooting night you can’t win.”

Junior forward Bethany Watterworth hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 7:30 remaining in the contest to give Oakland (3-4, 1-1) its first lead of the second half at 46-44. The Golden Grizzlies could not hold on to the advantage.

“I don’t think the whole game that we played our game. I don’t think we played Oakland basketball,” said Watterworth, who was one of three players in foul trouble for Oakland. “We played a good team and we didn’t shoot very well. I just think we need (to play) more intense the whole game.”

South Dakota tied the game on a pair of free throws with 6:01 to play and Sam Mehr followed up with a three-pointer, her only points of the game to put the Coyotes ahead for good at 51-48 with 5:21 left.

“We made timely plays,” said Williams. “Maybe a little lucky there, but I thought Mehr’s three-pointer was huge and Amber Hegge’s (three-pointer) with under (a minute to) play was really big. They were just timely shots. They could have just as easily not gone in.”

Oakland held a 39-36 edge on the boards and Victoria Lipscomb equaled her career-high with 13 rebounds, but the sophomore forward was held scoreless. Watterworth led OU with 14 points and six rebounds, while Sharise Calhoun added 10 points and Elizabeth Hamlet chipped in with nine points.

Annie Roche added 13 points for South Dakota, which lost its league opener two days earlier to IPFW.

Oakland started the game on a 5-0 run and held the Coyotes without a field goal for the first 6:12 of the contest. South Dakota, which finished 36.5 percent shooting from the floor (19-for-52) rallied to earn a 24-21 lead at the half.

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Tags: Basketball, college women's basketball, Oakland Women's Basketball, South Dakota Women's Basketball, summit league, Summit League Women's Basketball

Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University