No. 9 Clemson shoots past No. 8 South Dakota

Simone Westbrook scored 27 points, Danielle Edwards added 25, and ninth-seeded Clemson dominated eighth-seeded South Dakota in the second half of a 79-66 first-round victory in the NCAA Women's Tournament on Friday night in Starkville, Miss.

The Tigers (20-12), making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2002, will play either No. 1 seed Mississippi State or No. 16 Southern in a second-round game Sunday.

Aliyah Collier added 16 points for Clemson, which outscored South Dakota 48-31 in the second half.

Hannah Sjerven had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Allison Arens added 15 points to lead the Coyotes (28-6).

Arenas scored seven of South Dakota's first nine points of the third quarter as the Coyotes increased their four-point halftime lead to 44-36.

The Tigers went on a 15-2 run, which included Westbrook's 3-pointer and Collier's three-point play.

Taylor Frederick's layup ended the run and a field-goal drought of more than six minutes for South Dakota, leaving Clemson with a 51-48 lead after three quarters.

Sjerven's layup pulled the Coyotes within a point, but the Tigers scored the next four points.

Edwards made back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 15-2 run that put Clemson in command with a 70-55 lead with 3:20 remaining.

Clemson scored the first four points, but South Dakota went on a 7-0 run on its way to a 19-15 lead after the first quarter.

Westbrook scored nine points and Madison McKeever had six for the Coyotes as the teams played an even second quarter, leaving South Dakota with a 35-31 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media