Top-seeded South Dakota faces eighth-seeded Fort Wayne at noon Saturday in the Summit League Tournament quarterfinal inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
The Game
An early exit in the Summit League Tournament a season ago left a bitter taste for the Coyotes who rebounded this year with the first perfect Summit League season since 1994. Starting with the quarterfinals against Fort Wayne, South Dakota looks for three more wins to capture Summit League regular season and tournament titles in the same season for the first time in program history.
The Coyotes
South Dakota (24-5, 14-0) swept the Summit League regular season to earn the program's third title in four seasons. The Coyotes racked up
nine postseason Summit awards. USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit garnered Coach of the Year honors, senior guard
Jasmine Trimboli racked up Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Woman of the Year while making the all-league second team, junior guard
Allison Arens and sophomore guard
Ciara Duffy were named to the all-Summit first team, junior guard
Jaycee Bradley and sophomore guard
Madison McKeever were honorable mention selections, and freshman guard
Chloe Lamb made the all-newcomer team. South Dakota's well-rounded bench and versatility have been key to its success this season.
The Mastodons
Fort Wayne (4-23, 1-13) is led by junior De'Jour Young's 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The Mastodons will graduate one senior this season in KeShyra McCarver, a forward who averages 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds. Outside the arc, freshman Kierstyn Repp has drained 61 3-pointers for fourth in the league.
The Series
South Dakota leads the all-time series 12-3. The Coyotes swept the Mastodons this season by an average of 30 points and have won the last 10 meetings. The lone meeting in the Summit Tournament came in 2015, when then-freshman
Kate Liveringhouse scored eight points in 11 minutes as the Coyotes won 78-70.
One Last Thing
For the second-straight season, South Dakota leads the league in all three shooting percentage categories. Nationally, USD ranks third for free-throw percentage (81.0), 12th for field-goal percentage (47.5) and 26th for 3-point field-goal percentage (37.2).
