VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Morgan Maly matched her career-high with 21 points and had 10 rebounds for her second career double-double and No. 21 Creighton completed a sweep of the Mount Rushmore state with a 74-51 win over South Dakota on Thursday night.
The Bluejays (2-0), who opened the season with a win at No. 23 South Dakota State, got 16 points from Molly Mogensen and 12 from Carly Bachelor. Lauren Jensen, who had the first 30-point outing in a Creighton opener since 2000, also had 12.
South Dakota (1-1) led 19-12 after one quarter, but the Bluejays dominated the second 21-3 to lead 33-22 at the half. After making 5 of 22 shots in the first 10 minutes, Creighton was 9 of 16.
South Dakota was up 22-14 less than two minutes into the second quarter and didn’t score again, missing its last nine shots. The Coyotes went from 7-of-13 shooting to 1 of 12 with five turnovers.
Creighton finished shooting 47% after its cold start, going 10 of 14 in the fourth quarter.
Grace Larkins scored 20 points for the Coyotes, who lost all five starters and their coach from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. South Dakota, which made a record 19 3-pointers in its season opener, went 2 of 17 from the arc and shot 30%.
Creighton coach Jim Flanery is now 4-7 against South Dakota and 10-5 against South Dakota State, both strong mid-major programs with multiple NCAA berths.
The Bluejays, who play No. 22 Nebraska on Tuesday, made a run to the Elite Eight last season to earn their first-ever preseason ranking.
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