RIVERSIDE, Calif.—Thanksgiving: a holiday to express gratitude for loved ones and opportunities given. Members of the South Dakota women's basketball team spent the holiday in Riverside, Calif., preparing for a pair of road contests.
South Dakota faces the defending Big West regular season champions, UC Riverside, Friday evening at 7 p.m. CT. The team then travels north to CSU Bakersfield for the second game at 3 p.m. (CT) Sunday.
The Coyotes flew into LAX on Wednesday evening and woke up to palm trees, sunny skies and 70 degree weather. The trip has been filled with plenty of laughter, bonding and a team Thanksgiving dinner tonight. For a complete look at what the team's thankful for this Thanksgiving, follow the Coyotes on Snapchat at SDCoyotesWBB.
New Year, New Coach, New Team
South Dakota, the defending Women's National Invitation Tournament champions, has a brand new team this season after graduating four starters and Summit League Player of the Year
Nicole Seekamp. The team is also under the direction of first year head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit who is off to a 3-1 start. Plitzuweit brought with her a new motion offense, which has the Coyotes shooting 48.8 percent (101-of-207) from the field as a team. South Dakota leads the Summit League and ranks 12th in the nation in field goal percentage. The Coyotes shot a season high 56.8 percent on the road at Arkansas. Outside the arc, the Coyotes have shot 37 percent (34-of-92). South Dakota's 34 made threes ranks 14th nationally, while its 3-point field goal percentage ranks 59th.
A Cinderella Story
One of the Cinderella stories this season has been that of sophomore guard
Allison Arens, a reserve who made it onto the court eight minutes a game a year ago, who is now leading the Coyotes in scoring (21.5), rebounding (4.8), assists (5.3) and steals (2.3). Arens was the 2014-15 MaxPreps Nebraska Player of the Year as a senior in high school and led Crofton High School to four consecutive Nebraska state basketball championships. Early on this season, she leads the Summit in scoring and ranks 30th nationally. Arens is second in the league for assists with 21 and ranks 33rd nationally.
Complementary shooters
Three players have reached double figures in all four games this season. In addition to Arens, sophomore guard
Jaycee Bradley (13.8 ppg) and freshman guard
Ciara Duffy (14.3 ppg) are averaging double figures on the season. Both are sharp shooters outside the arc – Bradley has made 11 triples to rank 41st in the nation, while Duffy's 10 is tied for 62nd. Bradley tied her career high of five 3-pointers and her career high 17 points at Tulsa. Senior center
Abigail Fogg complements the guards in the post with an average 9.8 points and 4.8 boards per game. She had a career high 10 rebounds at Tulsa.
Scouting the Highlanders
UC Riverside will be the first Coyote opponent this season to have reached the postseason in 2015-16. The Highlanders were regular season Big West champions who were sent to the WNIT after a loss in the tournament semifinals to UC Davis. UC Riverside's season was ended by Gonzaga in the first round. In their first three games, Lauren Holt has been shooting 54.8 percent from the field while averaging a team high 14.3 points per game. Preseason all-Big West forward Rejane Verin averages 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Simone DeCoud adds 12.7 points and 7.3 boards off the bench.
