The University of South Dakota women's basketball continues to advance in postseason play.
The Coyotes defeated the Michigan State University Spartans 85-83 in overtime at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion.
With the win, the Coyotes advance to the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitational Tournament with a record of 29-6.
USD head basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit says Michigan State plays the game at a fast pace and is adept at creating mismatches for their opponents. She says it took some time for her team to adjust as M-S-U got out to an early lead.
"They really got what they wanted in the first quarter. We did not do a good job in any aspect defensively of helping each other, getting ball pressure...we just kind of got locked in to our kids at that point in time. And, they scored very efficiently against us. And, they pressed us and we did not do a good job with that either. So, once we figured it out and settled down and got in the right spots and attacked things in the proper way, we played really good basketball. So, I thought our players showed a lot of toughness," Plitzuweit says.
The Coyotes trailed by 16 points near the end of the first quarter and were able to cut the Spartan lead to just three at halftime.
USD forced overtime after Ciara Duffy made a shot with 22 seconds in the second half.
After Michigan State took a one-point lead in the final minute of overtime, former Sully Buttes High standout Chloe Lamb made a three-pointer that would put USD ahead for good.
Ciara Duffy led the Coyotes in scoring with 25 points. Lamb scored 18 points for South Dakota.
Shay Colley scored 31 points to pace Michigan State.
The Coyotes will host the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs on Sunday at 6 p.m. Central. USD and TCU are two of only eight teams left in the tournament.
South Dakota won the WNIT title two years ago.