Santa's Coming!
Santa makes his debut at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center this Sunday, following a tradition of visits to the DakotaDome. Come tell Santa what you want for Christmas, get your photo taken and get your candy!
The Game
Sunday afternoon is the second of a three-game home stand for the Coyotes (7-2) who are coming off a win over the Big Ten's Illinois on Wednesday. San Jose State (2-7) makes the trip west to face Amy Williams' Nebraska team on Friday night before visiting Vermillion on Sunday. The Spartans are the first team in three games with a defense not ranked in the top-50 nationally. Wyoming's fourth-ranked scoring defense and Illinois' 45th-ranked defense forced turnovers and close games for the high-scoring Coyotes.
Sunday will be a rematch from last season, when the Coyotes stole game one of the series on the road 87-77. Senior guard
Jasmine Trimboli's career high of 15 points came in that game on 6-of-10 shooting.
About the Coyotes
With leading scorer, sophomore guard
Allison Arens (19.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg), shut down by the Illini defense on Wednesday the Coyotes turned to senior center
Abigail Fogg to have a career game. Fogg scored 25 points with her scoring from all over the court - around the rim, outside the arc and from the free-throw line. Sophomore guard
Jaycee Bradley complemented her with 23 points, while drilling a career high six 3-pointers. Under USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit's motion offense, the Coyotes have shot 45.5 percent from the field, the Summit's second-best shooting percentage. The Coyotes average 72.3 points per game with Arens, Bradley (14.7 ppg) and freshman guard
Ciara Duffy (11.8) averaging double digits.
About the Spartans
The Spartans are led by preseason all-MWC guard Dezz Ramos. Ramos ranks 40th in the nation at 19.1 points per game and 65th for assists with 40. Ramos put up a career high 38 points against Pacific back on Nov. 18, before reaching 30 again the next game against Santa Clara. Outside of Ramos, four players average between seven and eight points per game. Jasmine Smith has averaged 8.8 points and 7.1 rebounds through nine games this season. The Spartans give up an average 79.4 points per game while scoring 65.3.
Point Tracker
Senior forward
Bridget Arens reached 500 career points on Nov. 30 against Concordia-St. Paul. Arens is the lone holdover from the 2014 NCAA Tournament team. Junior center
Kate Liveringhouse is also narrowing in on her 500th point, needing eight more points.
Summit vs. Mountain West
The Mountain West holds a 4-1 lead over Summit League teams this season, including Wyoming's overtime win against South Dakota last Sunday. South Dakota hasn't hosted a Mountain West school since 2013-14, while the Coyotes went 3-0 against the Mountain West Conference. The Coyotes are 4-4 all-time against the league.
