VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota's women's basketball team earned a No. 8 seed and will play Clemson Friday at 6 p.m. in Starkville, Miss., in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.
 
The Coyotes, 28-5 overall, are the first Summit League program to receive an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the league is now known. Northern Illinois made the field as an at large team in 1994 when the league was known as the Mid-Continent Conference.
 
It is the second NCAA Division I tournament appearance for South Dakota, which first appeared as a No. 15 seed back in 2014. The Coyotes qualified for eight NCAA tournaments at the Division II level, including a national runner-up finish in 2008 – the year before the program began its transition to Division I. USD is 8-9 all-time in NCAA tournament play.
 
Friday's matchup will be the first between South Dakota and Clemson. The ninth-seeded Tigers finished the regular season 19-12 overall and 9-7 in the ACC. Clemson is making its 16^th NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2002.
 
The winner of Friday's matchup will take on the winner of top-seeded Mississippi State (30-2, 15-1 SEC) and SWAC champion Southern (21-11, 14-4), a No. 16 seed. That game will follow the Coyotes and Tigers at 8 p.m. Mississippi State lost to Notre Dame in the national championship game last season.
 
Dawn Plitzuweit is in her third season with the program and is the Summit League Coach of the Year for the second straight season. The Coyotes' lone senior is Allison Arens, a three-time all-conference honoree. Junior Ciara Duffy, also a first-team all-Summit honoree, is the team's top scorer at 14.8 points per game. Sophomore Hannah Sjerven is the Summit's Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Woman of the Year, and an honorable mention all-conference choice.

Coyote fans interested in purchasing tickets for NCAA Tournament games can fill out a request form at GoYotes.com/wbbNCAA. Fan will be able to request up to four tickets in the USD section. Tickets are $20 per seat for the first round. Children under the age of two will not need a ticket, provided they sit on a parent's lap. All requests will be due on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. Fans will be notified if their request will be fulfilled on Tuesday afternoon and steps to purchase their tickets if their request has been granted.