The Game
South Dakota opens the 2019-20 season on the road for the eighth time in the last 10 years. The Coyotes take on Northeastern at 11 a.m. (CST) Tuesday inside the Cabot Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The game will be broadcast by the New England Sports Network (NESN) with play-by-play from Adam Giardino and color commentary by John Avino. Outside of New England, NESN is available on DirectTV channel 628 and DISH Network channel 434.
The Coyotes
The Summit League preseason favorite, South Dakota, will look to build off last year's NCAA Tournament appearance. The Coyotes went 28-6 and became the Summit League's first at-large bid to the women's basketball NCAA Tournament. The season included the program's first-ever wins over AP Top 25 teams, winning against Iowa State at home and Missouri on the road. South Dakota would become ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time on Feb. 11. The Coyotes also won the most regular season games (26) in the program's Division I history. A total of 83 percent of last year's scoring is back with four returning starters. Senior guard
Ciara Duffy was named the Summit League Preseason Player of the Year while junior center
Hannah Sjerven joined her on the preseason first team. Senior guard
Madison McKeever and junior guard
Chloe Lamb were both picked to the second team.
The Huskies
Northeastern finished sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association a year ago with a 20-12 overall record, reaching the Women's National Invitation Tournament in the postseason. The Huskies had just one loss in nonconference play with wins over NCAA Tournament team Maine and the SEC's Florida. With leading scorer Jess Genco lost to graduation, NU will have points to fill in 2019-20. Senior Shannon Todd, the second-leading scorer last year at 11 points per game, received preseason all-Colonial honorable mention honors.
The Series
This marks the first meeting between Northeastern and South Dakota.
One Last Thing
The Coyotes are 34-14 all-time in season openers. South Dakota, making its eighth season opener on the road in the past decade, looks to win its second-straight season opener after last year's 77-65 win at Creighton.
