VERMILLION, S.D.—The reigning Summit League regular season champions host Washington and travel to Kansas State and Illinois to highlight the South Dakota women's basketball schedule released Friday.
 
"We are excited for the challenges our schedule will bring," said Williams. "We made it our goal to continue to put together a non-conference schedule that will test us early and prepare our team for the rigors of the Summit League. We are excited to bring some very competitive teams to Vermillion to give our fans some great basketball in our final season in the DakotaDome."
 
The 29-game regular season schedule features five non-conference home games, a trip to Florida Atlantic for the Thanksgiving Tournament, and includes 16 contests against Summit League foes.
 
To view the full list of games, dates and times, click here.
 
After going 15-0 at home last season, the Coyote women have a 13-game slate to defend the DakotaDome in the regular season. Since it opened in 1979, the DakotaDome has proven to be one of the toughest places for opponents to play. The South Dakota women post an all-time home record of 360-147, with 29 winning home seasons and a win-percentage of .710.
 
South Dakota hosts Marquette in the home opener on Nov. 23. The December slate includes home games against Drake (Dec. 3), Portland State (Dec. 5), and Washington (Dec. 12). The Coyotes will host all eight Summit League foes from Jan. 1 to Feb. 20.
 
This season will serve as the finale of DakotaDome basketball as the Coyotes will move into the new arena for the 2016-17 season.
 
In the final NCAA RPI poll of 2014-15, the Coyote women ranked No. 76. This season, South Dakota will play seven teams ranked in the top 150 of that poll.
 
NCAA tournament qualifiers Washington and South Dakota State finished at No. 36 and No. 48, respectively. Kansas State ranked No. 70.
 
Outside of the top 100 spots, Illinois came in at No. 109. The Missouri Valley's Drake (No. 105) and Northern Iowa (No. 135) also captured positions in the poll. Rounding out the list is Oral Roberts at No. 130.
 
South Dakota plays host to Washington on Dec. 12, marking the first time a Power Five conference team has visited the DakotaDome in the regular season since 1984 when the Coyotes defeated Iowa State at home 79-69. More recently, Colorado visited the DakotaDome in 2012 for the WNIT tournament.
 
The Coyotes will also travel to three other Power Five programs. South Dakota opens the season against the Pac-12's Utah on Nov. 13 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Coyote women visit the Big 12's Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., on Nov. 19 and the Big Ten's Illinois on Dec. 22 in Champaign, Ill.
 
The last two Summit League champions will go head-to-head as a part of the Corn Cup Showdown Series. South Dakota will head to South Dakota State's Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D., on Jan. 17. After eight league games in between, the Coyotes host the Jackrabbits for senior day on Feb. 20.
 
A year ago the two teams split the home and away matches, with each team winning on their home court.