Texas Christian's Jordan Moore scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the second half as the Horned Frogs ended South Dakota's season with a 79-71 win in the 2018 WNIT quarterfinals, Sunday (March 25) in Vermillion.

The home loss for the Coyotes was their first since December 16, 2017.

USD (29-7) was down just two points in the final minute, but the Coyotes missed their final two shots, giving up the final six points of the game.

TCU shot 52 percent from the floor and outrebounded South Dakota by eight. USD shot 41 percent.

The Coyote offense was virtually non-existent for the first 4:30 of the game - just one made basket and three turnovers - as the Horned Frogs grabbed an early five-point lead.

But over the next 2:45, the USD defense forced a pair of turnovers while the offense scored five straight to pull even before TCU scored five of the last seven points of the quarter to lead by three (19-16) after one.

That advantage grew to five in the second quarter until back-to-back three-pointers from Jaycee Bradley and Ciara Duffy keyed a 10-2 Coyote run to put the Summit League regular season champs up three.

After the Horned Frogs tied it at 32, Allison Arens grabbed a pair of steals, igniting a 6-0 spurt for USD, who looked ready to take a six-point lead into intermission before Amber Ramirez hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to cut South Dakota's lead to 42-39 at halftime.

TCU outsthot USD 57 to 45 percent in the first half, but the Coyotes made up for it by  forcing ten turnovers and outscoring the Horned Frogs by nine from behind the three-point arc in the first 20 minutes.

The visitors carried the momentum from that buzzer beater into the early stages of the third quarter. TCU hit on three of their first four shots to start the second half, scoring eight straight to go up five.

The long range tandem of Duffy and Bradley brought USD back with consecutive three-pointers, all part of an 8-0 run to give the Coyotes a 50-47 lead. Bradley led three Coyote double figure scorers with 21 points.

Over the next three minutes of the third the two teams traded the lead five times and were tied twice before Texas Christian scored the final four points of the period to lead 59-55 after three.

A 6-1 run to start the fourth extended to advantage to eight as Moore scored on back-to-back layups.

After going without a field goal for the first 3:37 of the fourth, Madison McKeever turned a steal into a layup, igniting five straight from the Coyotes to pull back to within two. But that's as close as they would get over the final 2:49.

Texas Christian (23-12) will travel to Indiana, Wednesday (March 28), for a semifinal match-up. West Virginia plays at Virginia Tech in the other semifinal.


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