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South Dakota Women Win Opening Game of GWC Tournament
March 11, 2010 South Dakota 57, NJIT 49 OREM, Utah - Amber Hegge scored 22 points to lead No. 4 seed South Dakota to a 57-49 victory over fifth-seeded NJIT in the opening game of the Great West Conference Tournament Thursday at Orem, Utah. Hegge, a first-team all-conference selection hit 88 percent (7-8) from the field and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Joining Hegge in double figures for the Coyotes was Kara Iverson with 10 points. NJIT scored the game's first four points before South Dakota went on a 12-2 run to take a 12-6 lead at the 12:56 mark. The Coyotes increased their lead to 11 with 4:22 remaining before NJIT used a 9-2 run to close out the half and trail 25-21 at the break. In the second half, South Dakota (15-15) came out and scored the first 11 points of the stanza to take a 15-point lead at 36-21. The Highlanders cut the lead to seven on three occasions but could get no closer. "It was nice to get that first win," said USD coach Ryun Williams. "It was a scary game for us with it being the third game against them in two weeks. Neither team made a lot of adjustments today. We expected a close game. We got timely shooting and had a couple big runs. The big momentum switch was at the start of the second half. We've always defended well and we stayed true to that but they hit a lot of big shots to stay in it. They had some nice runs as well." NJIT (11-18) was led by Kehinde Oyelola with 20 points, while Jessica Gerald pulled down seven rebounds in the losing effort.
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