VERMILLION, S.D.—To follow a season where South Dakota's performance during its nonconference slate earned the Coyotes an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit and her staff look to recreate the magic with another challenging lineup.
 
"We are extremely excited about the opportunities ahead in 2019-20 for our team," said Plitzuweit. "We work to be very intentional in scheduling our nonconference opponents and this year we feel like we have a great blend of incredibly challenging games to help prepare our team for Summit League action.
 
"We will face some great teams on their home courts and we feel like our Thanksgiving tournament will allow us to face two very good opponents on a neutral court. Then, we also feel very fortunate to have some great teams coming to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center! We will be tested and we will learn a lot during our nonconference this year!"
 
Highlighting the schedule is a game against the 2017 NCAA Champions, South Carolina in Columbia. The Gamecocks are one of nine teams scheduled that finished in the top-101 of the RPI a year ago.
 
South Dakota is set to face foes out of the SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, Big East, Missouri Valley and Horizon League.
 
Returning foes from last year's slate include Green Bay (Nov. 9), Drake (Nov. 13), Missouri (Nov. 21), Missouri State (Nov. 25), Creighton (Dec. 4) and Montana (Dec. 15). Five of those six, with the exclusion of Green Bay, will make trips to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center this season.
 
South Dakota's nonconference schedule includes seven home games with three foes who made the 2019 NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet 16 team in Missouri State.
 
The Coyotes will face Ohio State (Nov. 29) and Northern Illinois (Nov. 30) at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.
 
Outside of South Carolina and Green Bay, road trips include the program's second-ever meeting with the Pac-12's Utah (Nov. 16) in Salt Lake City and a visit to Northeastern (Nov. 5) in Boston for the season opener.
 
The Summit League round-robin begins on Dec. 29 with a trip to Western Illinois. Rivalry match-ups with South Dakota State are slated for Jan. 18 in Vermillion and Feb. 22 in Brookings. The regular season will conclude with senior day against North Dakota on Feb. 29.