Oregon women hold South Dakota to 9 1st-half points, cruise to 67-47 win

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Erin Boley scored 22 points and 23rd-ranked Oregon closed out the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament late Monday night with a sleeper, downing South Dakota 67-47.

The 11th-seeded Coyotes missed their last 25 shots of the first half and were held to a near-record low in trailing 34-9 at the break.

Nyara Sabally added 17 points and Sedona Prince 12 as the sixth-seeded Ducks took advantage of their size on both ends of the floor to head into a second-round matchup Wednesday with third-seeded and 10th-ranked Georgia in the Alamo Region.

Hannah Sjerven scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Summit League champion Coyotes (19-6). Liv Korngable added 15 points for the Coyotes, who were in their fourth NCAA Tournament.

Oregon made quick work of this one, not looking at all like a team that had lost five of its last six games and was without point guard Te-Hina Paopao, who suffered a foot injury late in the regular season. The Coyotes made their first two shots before Prince and Sabally both made two baskets and a Boley 3-pointer capped an 11-0 run for a 13-4 lead.

After Korngable scored at the 4:15 mark of the first quarter, the Coyotes missed their next 25 field goals. And after Sjerven made two free throws a minute later, they didn’t score again until she made another free throw four seconds before the half.

South Dakota was just 3-for-32 shooting.

The Coyotes ended their drought with their first shot of the third, making 8 of 20 shots and outscoring Oregon 20-16 in the quarter but the damage was done.

Oregon finished the game at 60% (27 of 45), making 6 of 12 from 3-point range and all seven free throws but had an unsightly 23 turnovers. South Dakota was 13 of 33 (42.4%) in the second half