USD Women Fall at Ft. Wayne

Just a month ago, South Dakota was sitting right behind South Dakota State in the Summit League women's basketball standings after winning six of their first eight conference games, now the Coyotes are barely above .500 after a 71-64 loss at Fort Wayne Saturday.  The loss is the fourth in five games for USD.

Fort Wayne scored the first five points of the game, but USD came right back with seven straight of their own, keyed by five straight from Polly Harrington, who finished with her fourth career double-double (19 points/12 rebounds), on a perfect shooting day (7-7).

The Coyotes pushed the lead to as many as three in the first half, but the Mastodons hit six three-pointers from five different players and capitalzed on eight USD first half turnovers to lead 36-28 at the break.

South Dakota came out of the locker room hot in the second half, going on a 19-8 run in the first six minutes, but they didn't have an answer defensively for Amanda Hyde.  The second leading scorer in Summit League brought Fort Wayne back with 23 points, leading four players in double figures.

USD trailed 64-66 with 2:00 left, but all the Coyotes could manage down the stretch was two missed shots, as IPFW won their seventh Summit League game, pulling them even with South Dakota in the standings.

The Coyotes did win the rebounding battle 33-24, but 16 turnovers were too much to overcome.

USD hosts IUPUI Thursday.