Enjoy the precious present.
South Dakota head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit has encouraged her players to live by this motto all season.
It was all smiles inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center last Wednesday night after the Coyotes rallied from an 11-point deficit to top the Jackrabbits 80-75.
The win completed an undefeated Summit League regular season, a feat that had not been accomplished since Northern Illinois in 1993-94, and extended the Coyotes' winning streak to a Summit League record 18 games.
The Coyotes climbed the ladder to cut down the nets in celebration following the victory as the outright Summit League Champions. The teammates hugged, celebrated and laughed between interviews and photo ops.
Find a way.
With its tallest player checking in at 6-foot-1 and 10 guards on a roster of 13, South Dakota needed to utilize Plitzuweit's motion offense and find its own strengths.
Versatility became the answer as the Coyotes found numerous ways to win games. The Coyotes had nine different leading scorers throughout the season, outscored opponents 32-22 in the paint on average and averaged nine 3s a game.
The Coyote defense, which holds teams to a league-best 59.3 points per game, continued to spur the team's offense. South Dakota averages 19 points off turnovers per game.
South Dakota bounced back from a tough 3-point home loss to Tulsa in mid-December to rattle off win after win. There have been a number of memorable moments throughout this historic run.
"Our young ladies have found a way to keep themselves in games when things are not going our way," said Plitzuweit. "We talked about what adversity was going to look like and how we battle back through that. They have done that throughout the season and have played with a lot of toughness down the stretch."
North Dakota visited Vermillion in the Coyotes' final nonconference game, making 11 of its first 14 field goal attempts to jump out to an 18-point lead. The Coyotes never quit and rallied back throughout the second half. Sophomore guard
Ciara Duffy drained a 3-pointer with 2:20 to play to give the Coyotes the lead for the first time in 37 minutes. South Dakota went on to win the game 76-71.
The New Year kicked off with a difficult three-day road trip to North Dakota State and Western Illinois. South Dakota went on to avenge losses from 2017, including knocking off the defending champion Leathernecks 82-58 on their home court.
The 10th game of the winning streak came inside Frost Arena. South Dakota handed South Dakota State just its third Summit loss inside Frost in the last seven seasons.
A Valentine's Day 72-50 victory in Omaha capped off an undefeated road slate for South Dakota. The Coyotes became the first Summit League team to go undefeated on the road since Oakland did it in 2006-07.
Defensive stops became the answer in the remaining pair of games as the Coyotes wrapped up the season at home.
The Golden Eagles climbed out to an 11-point lead against the Coyotes in the first meeting in Tulsa and it appeared this game would fare the same way as Oral Roberts led by six at the end of one. South Dakota outscored them by 23 points the rest of the way to win 72-55.
Although a share of the Summit League regular season title was clinched, the top tournament seed and outright title stood on the line with the finale against rival South Dakota State.
The Jackrabbits blazed through the first three quarters, shooting 61.4 percent and led by nine points with eight to play. A series of defensive stops propelled the Coyotes to a 20-6 run in the remaining minutes as USD won 80-75.
Be your best.
The season is not over yet.
"We have been taking each game one at a time," said senior guard Jasmine Trimboli. "We do not try to think about how many we have won in a row. We just take each practice and each game one by one. We have been focusing on ourselves and making ourselves better each and every day."
South Dakota has been building on a season-long goal to go dancing in the NCAA Tournament.
"We are still a work in progress," said Plitzuweit. "What's important for us in getting ready for the Summit League Tournament is that we continue to have the mindset that we are not where we want to be yet. We want to continue to develop and grow."
Three games stand ahead of the Coyotes next weekend as they battle to represent the Summit League at the NCAA Tournament in March. The Summit League Tournament tips off with Fort Wayne at noon Saturday in Sioux Falls.
