DES MOINES, IOWA — The Drake University women’s basketball team settled in defensively after a rocky start, but had to come from too far back and lost to South Dakota 61-46 at the Knapp Center on Monday night.

Drake (1-1) shot just 19.2 percent (5-for-26) in the first half and finished at 25.9 percent for the game after shooting a little better over the final two quarters.

Megan Meyer and Maggie Bair led Drake with 10 points each, while Grace Berg had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Bair added 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks and Meyer had a team-best 3 assists.

Drake trailed 40-19 at halftime and fell behind by 24 midway through the third quarter. The Bulldogs then found some rhythm offensively and ran off 11 straight points — a run that included 4 points from Meyer and a 3 from Katie Dinnebier — to cut the lead to 52-39 with 8:27 left.

But the rally died there and South Dakota did just enough to pull away and win comfortably, holding the Bulldogs to just one more basket after Dinnebier’s 3.

Center Hannah Sjerven, who went 2-for-10 in the loss to South Carolina, made 9 of 14 shots and led the Coyotes with 25 points and 12 rebounds. South Dakota shot 44.9 percent for the game.

Drake faces another challenging game later this week. No. 14 Iowa State visits the Knapp for a 6 p.m. tipoff on Thursday.