No. 17 South Dakota women roll past Oral Roberts in Summit

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Taylor Frederick scored 16 points, Hannah Sjerven added a double-double with seven blocks and No. 17 South Dakota coasted past fourth-seeded Oral Roberts 65-43 in the Summit League semifinals on Monday.

The Coyotes (29-2) were tied with the Golden Eagles (15-16) after one quarter before dominating the second quarter en route to their 18th-straight win.

Sjerven, who had 15 points and matched her career high with 13 rebounds, scored the first seven points in a quarter-opening 14-0 run, and South Dakota closed with nine-straight points to lead 35-15 at the half. The Coyotes were 10 of 16 from the field and limited Oral Roberts to one banked in 3-pointer on 20 shots plus two free throws.

South Dakota advanced to its third straight league title game and will face the winner of second-seeded South Dakota State and sixth-seeded North Dakota State in the finals on Monday.

Frederick, the Summit sixth-woman of the year, was 8-of-10 shooting, the two misses coming in the first quarter when South Dakota was 5 of 20. League player of the year Ciara Duffy added 10 points. Sjerven, the defensive player of the year, matched her career high for blocked shots and pushed her season total to 63. She moved into fourth on the school career list with 126.

Oral Roberts, which has lost 12 straight in the series, was led by Keni Jo Lippe with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

South Dakota was up 65-29 when it scored its last basket with 5 1/2 minutes to play. The Golden Eagles, which only lost by two at home in their last meeting, the only conference game South Dakota didn’t win by double figures, scored the last 14 points of the game.

_____

More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25