ATLANTA—South Dakota women's basketball has made the 2018-19 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top-25 Honor Roll for the fourth-straight season.
 
"Our young ladies have set incredibly high standards for themselves from an academic standpoint and to see their diligent efforts be recognized nationally is phenomenal," said USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. "This type of recognition also brings to mind how fortunate we are to have a strong support system at the University of South Dakota for our student-athletes! Our players are in very demanding and challenging degree paths and to be able to enjoy success both on and off the court is just another reason that USD is such a special University!"
 
The Coyotes compiled a team grade-point average of 3.69 for fifth on the NCAA Division I list. South Dakota ranks in the top-five for the third time in four years.
 
South Dakota women's basketball also had one of the program's most successful seasons on the court. The Coyotes earned their second trip to the NCAA Tournament, earning the first at-large bid in Summit League history. South Dakota earned its first wins over AP Top 25 teams, both at home and on the road, and later spent four weeks in the top-25 themselves. Ciara Duffy earned Academic All-America honors for the second-straight year, making the first team in 2019.

The Coyotes are one of five teams (DePaul, Drake, Rice, Stanford) to make the list that also spent time in the AP Top 25 this season.
 
The WBCA annually recognizes the top-25 GPAs for programs at the NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college levels. This marks the 24th year the WBCA has compiled the honor roll.
 
"The WBCA is pleased to recognize those women's basketball programs that have committed themselves to excellence on the court and in the classroom," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "The 117 teams we honor this year strive to achieve all-around success and we commend their efforts. Congratulations!"
 
A list of the NCAA Division I WBCA Academic Top-25 Honor Roll is included below.
 
 

Rank	Institution	Head Coach	GPA
1	Western Illinois University	JD Gravina	3.767
2	North Dakota State University	Maren Walseth	3.756
3	Robert Morris University	Charlie Buscaglia	3.713
4	Drake University	Jennie Baranczyk	3.695
5	University of South Dakota	Dawn Plitzuweit	3.690
6	University of Wyoming	Joe Legerski	3.688
7	Youngstown State University	John Barnes	3.668
8	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay	Kevin Borseth	3.641
9	Illinois State University	Kristen Gillespie	3.636
10	Lehigh University	Susan Troyan	3.625
11	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	Cindy Stein	3.621
12	Northern Arizona University	Loree Payne	3.616
13	Loyola University-Maryland	Joe Logan	3.608
T14	Creighton University	Jim Flanery	3.606
T14	Houston Baptist University	Donna Finnie	3.606
16	George Mason University	Nyla Milleson	3.583
17	DePaul University	Doug Bruno	3.561
18	Rice University	Tina Langley	3.552
19	Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis	Austin Parkinson	3.548
20	Kennesaw State University	Agnus Berenato	3.540
T21	Quinnipiac University	Trish Fabbri	3.535
T21	Stanford University	Tara VanDerveer	3.535
23	Northern Illinois University	Lisa Carlsen	3.510
24	University of North Carolina-Asheville	Brenda Kirkpatrick	3.505
25	University of Northern Iowa	Tanya Warren	3.504