VERMILLION, S.D. – Highlighted by a 17-point performance from senior forward Alison Janecek (Omaha, Neb.), the University of Denver women’s basketball team suffered an 88-67 loss to South Dakota on Friday at the DakotaDome.

“The biggest thing was we battled them hard the first 20 minutes of the game,” said DU head coach Kerry Cremeans. “The second half was a big surprise to me. When you battle on the road, then the biggest thing is that the defensive effort has to be there, and that just wasn’t there for us tonight.”

The setback drops the Pioneers to 5-18 overall and 3-5 in The Summit League, while the Coyotes climb to 12-11 overall and 3-5 in conference play.

The Coyotes were led by Polly Harrington’s 18 points. Harrington was one of four USD players who scored in double digits.

Entering the second half down 33-30, the Pioneers were poised to pull ahead of the Coyotes. However, USD extended its lead much in part to scoring runs of 7-0 and 6-0 midway through the second half.

USD also kept the Pioneers to small scoring runs. The largest stretch of points DU could put together during the second half was five when junior guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored five straight unanswered points for DU with a three-pointer and layup to trim the Denver deficit to 56-44 with 9:57 left in regulation.

DU trailed by as many as 23 on three occasions, the last of which occurred with 12 seconds left in the game, when Bridget Arens hit a free throw to give the Coyotes an 88-65 advantage.

Although DU endured an 11-0 run by the Coyotes in the middle of the first half, the Pioneers went into the half down by a trey, 33-30, to USD in the opening frame on the strength of a 5-for-5 performance at the line put together by Janecek and sophomore guard Paige Bradley (The Woodlands, Texas). Janecek finished the first half with 12 points.

The Coyotes (13-for-31) shot 41.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, slightly better than the Pioneers’ 12-for-29 (41.4 percent) mark in that category.

For the game, DU went 23-for-64 (35.9 percent) from the paint while USD finished 31-for-58 (53.4 percent), including an 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) performance in the second half. From the arc, the Pioneers made 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) and the Coyotes turned in an 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) effort.

The Pioneers return home to host IUPUI (17-6, 7-1 Summit) on Thursday at 7 p.m. MT. The Jaguars have won seven in a row.

DU Women's Basketball Head Coach Kerry Cremeans' Post-Game Interview at South Dakota

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