The SeriesSouth Dakota has won five in a row to lead 7-3 all-time. Since the series inception in 2011-12, all three Coyote losses have come on the road.
The GameSitting at No. 1, South Dakota needs a win over No. 8 Fort Wayne to secure its second consecutive Summit League title. However, don't count the Mastodons out as their last home game was an upset over No. 4 Oral Roberts - the only team to hand the Coyotes a loss in league play.
In fact, all six of the Mastodons wins this season have come at home. The Dons are 0-14 on the road. Kamilah Carter is the league's fifth-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game. She has surpassed the 20-point mark in eight games this season.
South Dakota has used a fast pace and shared the ball well to reach 22 wins. The Coyotes have the 12th-best scoring offense in the nation at 79.6 points per game, while their 485 assists ranks ninth nationally. While the offense powered the Coyotes through early on, the defensive end of the court is where the Coyotes have made the most strides. South Dakota's defense has limited opponents to 52.5 points per game in the second half of league play. Opponents have shot 34.6 percent from the field and committed 17.8 turnovers per game in that time frame.
Last Time OutThe Coyotes committed a season-low eight turnovers and shot 53.1 percent as USD easily ran past IPFW 92-60 in Vermillion. Senior guard
Nicole Seekamp led the team with 19 points, while senior guards
Tia Hemiller and
Kelly Stewart added 11 apiece. The Mastodons were led by Courtney Ogle's 15 points off the bench.
1,000 Point WatchSenior center
Margaret McCloud and junior guard
Jasmine Trimboli are chasing their 1,000th career points and stand three away. McCloud scored her 997 in four years as a Coyote and would become the 12th player in program history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Trimboli has 160 in a Coyote uniform, while scoring the remainder at Iowa Western CC.
StreaksSouth Dakota has won 12 straight games, the longest winning streak since the program entered the NCAA Division I era. Its tied for the 14th-longest active streak nationally.
Second-Winningest CoachHead coach
Amy Williams won her 86th game at the helm of USD on Saturday against SDSU. The win made her the second-winningest coach in program history behind Chad Lavin (1982-86, 1998-08) who had 273. She reached the mark in less than four seasons with an efficient winning percentage of 66.6 percent.
#MarchtotheSummitSouth Dakota needs to win one of its two remaining games to secure its second consecutive Summit League title and the No. 1 seed in the Summit League Tournament.
This is the first season nine teams are eligible for the Summit League Tournament - but only eight seeds are available. Fort Wayne defeated fourth-ranked Oral Roberts a week ago to remain in the hunt and create a three-way tie for seventh place. With a win over North Dakota State last Saturday, Denver is a half-game ahead of NDSU and IPFW. The regular season ends with North Dakota State at Fort Wayne, likely to determine the final tournament spot.
