By: Britni Smith, USD Sports Information
The 2020-21 season will mark the 50th year of Coyote women's basketball as a varsity sport at the University of South Dakota.
To celebrate the milestone, GoYotes.com will revisit and remember a handful of seasons across the different eras of South Dakota women's basketball through the years each Friday leading up to the season.
1973-74: The Early Years
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Roster
Coach: Jean Jacobsen
From the start of Coyote women's basketball in the 1971-72 season, the program was associated with the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women). South Dakota had a pair of runner-up performances at the AIAW State Tournament by year three. Home games were played at the New Armory on campus. The early years were spent playing mostly regional programs from USD-Springfield to Buena Vista to modern day rivals like South Dakota State. Head coach Jean Jacobsen, who also coached the Coyote women's tennis program, would spend the next three seasons with the Coyote women's basketball team and twice lead them to an AIAW State Tournament Consolation Championship.
1980-81: AIAW Division I
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Coach: Mary Zimmerman
The Coyotes took a leap to Division I of the AIAW in 1979-80. South Dakota was lined up in the AIAW Region 6 of the Midwest and subdivided into the North Section that included Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State and Drake. The Coyotes were able to successfully make the move with the help of talented seniors in Gloria Suntken, Mary Joneson and Renee Steeve. Suntken and Steeve were the first two Coyotes to break 1,000 points in their career, while Joneson still holds a share of the South Dakota rebounding record to this day with 1,027 caroms. The season included wins over Notre Dame, Creighton, Wisconsin and a thrilling overtime win against Nebraska in the DakotaDome. The Coyotes reached the AIAW Region 6 Tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they fell 87-66 to nationally-ranked No. 4 Kansas in the first round.
1983-84: NCC Champions, Again!
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Roster
Coach: Chad Lavin
As the NCAA added women's sports into the fold and the Coyotes aligned with the men's program in the North Central Conference, South Dakota jumped to the front of the pack. In the inaugural season of women's basketball in the NCC, first-year head coach Chad Lavin led the Coyotes to a conference championship in 1983.
Year two under Lavin was even sweeter with a second conference title, a 22-7 record and an appearance in the NCAA North Central Regional Championship game. Senior Karrie Wallen led the way with 18.0 points and 6.7 boards per game en route to receiving honorable mention All-America status. Juniors Ann Pancoast and Katie Dailey joined her on the all-NCC team. Pancoast averaged 16.4 points over the season, while Dailey remains the school's career assists and steals leader to this day.
South Dakota wrapped up the 1983-84 season at No. 14 in the NCAA Division II poll.
1990-91: A New Decade of Coyote Basketball
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Roster
Coach: Gary Larson
In Gary Larson's first year of taking over the helm of the program, the Coyotes race to a fourth-place finish in the competitive North Central Conference behind three nationally ranked programs. South Dakota finished with a 19-9 record on the year, narrowly missing a bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Coyotes were led by all-NCC honorees Amy Heller and Jodi Pipes. Heller averaged 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds while Pipes put up 12.2 points, four assists and three steals per game.
Heller was one of three seniors on the squad, joined by four-year starter Stacy Kracht and Laura Chapman. Heller and Kracht graduated as the fourth and fifth-leading scorers in program history, respectively, with both scoring more than 1,000 points and grabbing more than 500 rebounds in their careers.
2002-03: Lavin's Return
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Coach: Chad Lavin
The return of legendary coach Chad Lavin, coupled with the addition of star player Mandy Koupal, in the early 2000s made for an exciting time in the program. Lavin's return in 1998 got the momentum rolling and by the 2003 season, his squad captured the program's first North Central Conference title in nearly 20 years.
The regular season crown didn't come easy. At one point, the Coyotes had to face three top-10 opponents in a span of eight days. South Dakota came out of the stretch with three victories – including an 87-83 upset of No. 2 South Dakota State behind a then-career high 26 points from Hall of Famer Heather Nelson. Nelson scored 28 points the next game in the win at No. 5 North Dakota.
Beyond the NCC title, the season included a then-school record 27 victories as South Dakota advanced to the NCAA Tournament's North Central Regional. The team finished No. 9 in the final Division II poll. Overall, the Coyotes set 22 school records during the season. South Dakota also led the NCAA Division in 3-point field goal percentage (.410) while sinking an average of nine per game.
Individual honors rained in for the Coyotes in the postseason. Koupal received her first of two National Player of the Year awards, All-America honors, NCC MVP, all-NCC and all-tournament for both the NCC and NCAA North Central Region. Koupal averaged 23.1 points, scoring a school single-game record 40 points against Augustana. Seniors Julia Frie and Nelson joined her on the all-NCC squad. The trio are all members of the Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame.
A 4.00 student off the court, Frie also earned the prestigious Stan Marshall Award, awarded annually to one male and one female North Central Conference athlete who distinguished themselves in academic performance, athletic ability and community activities. Both Frie and Koupal received CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition in 2003.
2007-08: NCAA Division II Runners-Up
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Coach: Chad Lavin
Before any games tipped off in 2007-08, the Coyote women knew the season would be special. It was the final season of NCAA Division II for the program, with the transitioning beginning the following year. Legendary head coach Chad Lavin announced before the season that it would be his last at the helm.
It was a season of momentum building and record setting. There was an early neutral-site loss to Adams State in November, but from that point forward the Coyotes racked up a school record 31 consecutive victories. That span included an upset of No. 1 North Dakota, 70-67, in Grand Forks. The Coyotes went undefeated in the North Central Conference and eclipsed North Dakota a third time in the NCC Tournament Championship, 72-69.
South Dakota celebrated three more wins in the NCAA North Central Regional in front of Coyote Nation inside the DakotaDome – advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for the first time.
The Coyotes opened their time at the Elite Eight in Kearney, Nebraska, with a thrilling double-overtime win over No. 24 Washburn. Clutch shooting at the line – six made free-throws in the final 15 seconds – gave the Coyotes the 85-80 victory. South Dakota took down the nation's No. 1 team for the second time of the year when they defeated No. 1 Delta State 68-58 in the Final Four. Freshman Amber Hegge made a pair of jumpers in the final minutes to give the Coyotes the final lead in the game, while clutch free-throw shooting at the end put it away for the Yotes.
South Dakota's 31-game winning streak ended in the title game as the Coyotes fell 63-58 to Northern Kentucky. The Coyotes finished as the National Runner-Ups and No. 2 in the final coaches poll of the year. The 33-2 record from the season remains the most wins by a Coyote team and is one of three 30-win seasons in program history (2016, 2020).
A core group of seniors – Jeana Hoffman, Jenna Hoffman, Ashley Robinette and Shannon Daly – were the leaders of the 2007-08 squad.
Jeana Hoffman, the leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, earned All-America honors. Hoffman and Bridget Yoerger (11.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg) were named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. The Hoffman twins were both named all-NCC as well with Jeana earning MVP honors.
2015-16: Women's National Invitation Tournament Champions
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Roster
Coach: Amy Williams
A handful of years into the Summit League, the Coyote women had established themselves near the top of the pack alongside in-state rival, South Dakota State. South Dakota had its first NCAA Division I Tournament experience in 2014 and returned a large contingent of its squad from the program's first Summit League regular season title in 2015. Both titles came under head coach Amy Williams.
The key piece to the puzzle had happened that previous April, when star player Nicole Seekamp was granted a fourth year of eligibility, minus a two-game withholding, by the NCAA. She had initially been charged with a loss of one of her four intercollegiate seasons for competing in an organized amateur competition in her native Australia following high school graduation.
While the Coyotes had a rocky start without their floor general, South Dakota was quick to bounce back upon her return – winning 26 of its next 28 contests while snatching up a second-straight Summit League regular season title. South Dakota's hopes of the program's second NCAA Tournament berth came to a halt with a loss in the Summit League Championship game.
The loss relegated the 26 and 6 Coyotes to the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
"There's a hundred examples of teams that were never able to get over the disappointment of falling short of a goal that fizzled out," said Williams. "We've tried really hard to shelf that previous goal and focus on what's in front of us. We've really locked in."
The Coyotes five seniors – Seekamp, Tia Hemiller, Kelly Stewart, Margaret McCloud and Heidi Hoff – led the charge as the team refocused its goal to the WNIT.
Every element of the postseason tournament was magical. An opening round 74-68 win over Creighton for the second-straight year. A road victory, 101-89, over the Big Ten's Minnesota and first-round WNBA draft pick Rachel Banham at the Barn. A defensive showdown victory, 51-50, over Northern Iowa in the WNIT Round of 16. Junior Jasmine Trimboli making SportsCenter's Top 10 plays with a half-court shot and Hemiller scoring her 1,000th point in the 68-54 win over Western Kentucky.
South Dakota defeated the Pac-12's Oregon, 88-54, in front of more than 5,000 Coyote fans. The Coyotes sank 15-of-21 from 3, including a SportsCenter No. 1 half-court baseball throw by Hemiller, in the Final Four victory.
The final basketball game inside the DakotaDome was the WNIT Championship between two mid-majors, South Dakota and Florida Gulf Coast, in front of a sellout crowd of 7,415 fans. The Coyotes came out victorious, 71-65, behind a balanced team effort.
South Dakota also received postseason recognition. Seekamp was the Summit's Player of the Year, WNIT MVP and was on the Summit's all-tournament team. Hemiller was second-team all-Summit and on the WNIT all-tournament team. Stewart was honorable mention for league play and on the Summit's all-tournament team. Williams was the Summit's Coach of the Year.
The Coyotes were the first Summit League team in any sport, men's or women's to win a national postseason title.
2019-20: Nationally Ranked, Undefeated Summit Champions
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Roster
Coach:
Dawn Plitzuweit
Last season was one of the most incredible in South Dakota women's basketball history. The Coyotes were 30-2 on the year, ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and became the first Summit League team to run the table in the regular season and win the Summit League Tournament. South Dakota earned the Summit's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, but the season came to an unprecedented ending when the NCAA called off its championships in March due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic that put the world on pause.
South Dakota's season ended with 19 consecutive victories and finished 30-2 overall. The Coyotes two losses on the season were to ranked teams in then-No. 22 Missouri State and then-No. 5 South Carolina.
The Coyotes were led by an experienced senior class that included the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year in
Ciara Duffy, the Summit Sixth Woman of the Year in
Taylor Frederick, honorable mention all-league point guard
Madison McKeever and fifth-year senior
Megan Bonar.
South Dakota set a handful of program records during the season, including average points per game (81.4 ppg), average margin of victory (25.7 ppg) and overall field goal percentage (.480).
Duffy graduated as the lone Coyote player with 1,700 points, 600 rebounds and 400 assists in her career. She racked up the postseason awards, adding espnW's Mid-Major Player of the Year to the Becky Hammon award, the Summit League Player of the Year, all-Summit first team and all-tournament team. She also earned CoSIDA Academic All-America for the third-straight year.
Junior center
Hannah Sjerven was the Summit League Tournament MVP and joined Duffy on the preseason first-team. Sjerven set a school record for single-season field goal percentage, finishing at .581. Junior guard
Chloe Lamb was all-Summit second team and all-tournament team. With Frederick and McKeever earning honorable mention, the Coyotes became the second team to have five players earn a spot on the league's first, second or honorable mention teams.
South Dakota went on to earn national recognition in the postseason, being featured on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt and in Sports Illustrated.
Next up: South Dakota's
50th season of women's basketball.
