South Dakota women's basketball opens the 2017-18 season at noon on Friday, Nov. 10, at Iowa State inside Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.





Season Openers

• South Dakota enters its 47th season of women's basketball Friday at Iowa State.
• The Coyotes are 33-13 all-time in season opening games.
• This marks just the second time in program history that the Coyotes have opened the season with a Power 5 opponent. The other game was at the Pac-12's Utah in 2015-16.
• South Dakota's last visit to Ames was during the 2013-14 season. The Coyotes made two trips that year with a regular season game at Iowa State and then later when the Cyclones hosted the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Coyotes faced Stanford in the first round.

 
Against the Cyclones

• Iowa State leads the all-time series with South Dakota 5-4, including a 4-2 lead with games played in Ames.
• A common opponent in the AIAW days of women's basketball, USD once led this series 4-1.
• The Cyclones are 2-0 against the Yotes in ISU head coach Bill Fennelly's 22 years.

 
Experience Takes the Stage

• Experience plays a key role for the Coyotes under second-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit.
• South Dakota returns seven players from last year's team, including three starters in junior guard Allison Arens, junior guard Jaycee Bradley and sophomore guard Ciara Duffy. Sophomore guard Madison McKeever was the first Coyote off the bench last season and averaged 27 minutes a game.  The Coyotes return 77 percent of their scoring from last season.
• South Dakota finished 23-9 with an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament in Plitzuweit's first season.
• Additionally, the Coyotes gain the return of redshirt-senior guards Caitlin Duffy and Jasmine Trimboli to the court. The duo played key roles on the Coyotes WNIT Championship team in 2015-16.

 
Newcomers on Board

• South Dakota has five newcomers on this season's roster. There are four freshmen in Monica Arens, Liv Korngable, Claudia Kunzer and Chloe Lamb. Sophomore forward Hannah Sjerven also joined the Coyotes this season, although she will have to sit out due to NCAA transfer rules.

 
Preseason Accolades

• Bradley was named to the inaugural Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watch List. The award recognizes the top shooting guard in NCAA Division I women's basketball. Bradley returns as the Coyotes' second-leading scorer and top 3-point shooter. She ranked sixth nationally for 3-point percentage at a 45.3 percent clip. Bradley drained 86 threes, which ranks fourth on USD single-season charts for 3-pointers made.
• Arens, a 2016-17 Summit League first team pick, was named to the preseason Summit League first team. Arens led the Coyotes in scoring (17.1 ppg), assists (3.8) and steals (1.7) last season. She also ranked second on the team in rebounds (5.3) and blocks (0.6). Arens has a knack for making it to the stripe, finishing 157-of-180 from the line to help the Coyotes capture the NCAA's Free Throw Shooting Percentage Award.
• The 2016-17 Summit League Freshman of the Year, Duffy earned a spot on the Summit's preseason second team. She gained invaluable experience in the starting lineup as a true freshman taking over the point. Duffy averaged 11.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

 
Other Notes

• South Dakota looks to retain its scoring efficiency from a year ago. USD captured the NCAA's Free Throw Shooting Percentage Award by sinking 80.4 percent, ranked 10th in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage (37.9) and 11th for field goal percentage (46.9). All seven returners averaged above 40 percent from the field.
• An increased tempo, protecting the basketball and aggressive defending are three areas of improvement Plitzuweit emphasized for 2017-18.