VERMILLION, S.D.— The University of South Dakota women's basketball team will open its North Central Conference season at North Dakota State Friday before an outing at North Dakota Saturday.
 
The Coyotes stand 9-2 and have been idle since a Dec. 17 Varsity-Alumni contest. South Dakota State was a preseason pick to contend for the first ever North Central Conference title along with Nebraska-Omaha. The Bison will bring an 8-2 record into their outing with USD, while North Dakota stood 6-4 prior to a game Friday.
 
"It should be interesting to see how we play after this long break," said USD coach Chad Lavin. "I would rather not play a team as good as North Dakota State right off the bat, but we'll accept the challenge."
 
Four Coyote players will not be making the trip because of injuries: sophomore Robin Schamber (ankle); sophomore Julie Seiler (knee); freshman Lorri Riley (stress fracture); and freshman Gwen Bergman (wisdom teeth).
 
Sophomore Ann Pancoast paces the Coyotes, who rank third in the NCAA Division scoring offense averaging 80.5 points, with an 18.1 average. Senior Carol Finley is hitting 56.7 percent from the floor, while Katie Dailey has a team high 80 assists and 45 steals.