VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota women's basketball is making its third appearance in the WNIT's quarterfinal round, hosting Montana State in the Great 8 Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center
 
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
• South Dakota women's basketball against Montana State will be available to watch Midco Sports and on the Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus.
• Fans can listen to the Coyotes on KVHT 106.3 FM on the Coyote Sports Network with the voice of the Coyotes Jerry Palleschi on the call.

THE BRACKET
• South Dakota and Montana State meet in the Great 8 of the WNIT after Montana State earned a Super 16 victory over Portland Thursday night at home.
• The winner of Sunday's game will face the winner of Monday's Illinois State-George Washington Great 8 game in the semifinals, or the Fab 4, of the WNIT. Game details will be announced at a later date.
 
THEN THERE WERE EIGHT
• South Dakota's seventh WNIT run has reached the Great 8, and the Coyotes get to stay in the friendly confines of the Sanford Coyote Sports Center to host Montana State Sunday afternoon.
• USD is 16-5 all-time in the WNIT, and is playing in their third quarterfinal/Great 8 in the WNIT.
• The Coyotes have won the WNIT, doing so in 2016 inside the DakotaDome. The last basketball game played in the DakotaDome was the 2016 championships game where South Dakota defeated Florida Gulf Coast.
• South Dakota is 8-1 in the WNIT inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
• This is USD's second appearance since the WNIT field went to 48-teams from 64, and earned a first round bye for the first time in the 48-team field era.
• South Dakota continues to have one of the nation's best turnaround this season, going from 11 wins to 25, tied for the third best win improvement in Division I.
• The 25 wins this season from South Dakota is the 18th time the Coyotes have passed the 20-win threshold in program history.
• South Dakota's 25 wins are the most in a season since the 2021-22 season when South Dakota made their Sweet 16 run.
 
INSIDE THE MONTANA STATE SERIES
• The Coyotes and Bobcats meet for the 2nd time in series history, both coming over the last two seasons.
• South Dakota and Montana State have met one time previous time, a 77-46 Bobcat victory in Bozeman as a part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
• South Dakota's roster turnover from last season to this one means the Coyotes have just two players who faced Montana State last season as members of the Coyotes.
• This is the first meeting in Vermillion between the two squads.

RECORD VS THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE
• The Coyotes have plenty of familiarity with the Big Sky Conference, having faced four members of the conference already this season, including Northern Colorado in the second round of the WNIT.
• South Dakota is 20-8 against the conference all-time, including 3-1 this season.
• While the Yotes don't have a win over Montana State yet, the have wins over five current Big Sky foes.
• USD has the most wins against current members Northern Arizona (4-0) and Northern Colorado (4-2), and former member North Dakota (4-1).
• USD has faced a Big Sky opponent in the postseason four times, including the Bears a week ago, and are 3-1 in the previous four meetings.

WNIT SUMMARY
• South Dakota opened its WNIT run with an 80-60 victory over Northern Colorado and followed that up with a 73-57 win over Pepperdine in the Super 16.
• Thursday against Pepperdine, Patience Williams scored the game's first 14 points and the Coyotes raced out to a 32-9 lead after one quarter.
• Williams and Angelina Robles tallied 20 points apiece in the win with both players making four three-pointers.
• USD shot a season's best 11-23 (47.8%) from three in the win over the Waves.
• The Coyotes started out with a 9-0 deficit to the Bears, but used a 21-4 run to end the first quarter and build a lead.
• Four Coyotes scored in double figures in the win, led by Angelina Robles' 21 points and five assists.
• Josie Hill (11 points) and Tori Schlagel (10 points) made impacts off the bench for USD.
• The Coyotes matched a season's best in three-point shooting, converting 9-of-19 for a 47.4% clip.
• USD has shot over 45% from the floor and 47% from three in both WNIT games so far. They've also won the rebounding battle in both games.
 
THE TRANSFER PORTAL ERA
• Over 1,500 women's basketball players entered the transfer portal following the 2024-25 season. USD is one of at least six programs with 13+ newcomers.
• USD is one of at least seven programs with 13+ newcomers.
• USD is one of at least seven programs with at least nine transfers.
• Seven of USD's nine transfers come from Div. I programs, including two from Summit League foes.
• South Dakota's transfers hail from 6 states: California (1), Iowa (4), Minnesota (1), New Mexico (1), South Dakota (1), and Washington (1).
 
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
• The Summit League announced their postseason awards Tuesday, prior to the start of the conference tournament. Molly Joyce was named the Newcomer of the Year.
• Joyce was also named second team all-Summit League and to the all-Newcomer Team.
• She averaged 15.8 points while shooting .396/.393/.864 during league play. She added 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
• Her 86.4% from the free throw line was third in the league.
• She scored over 20-plus points in the first four games of conference play, and six times total, and scored 10-plus in 14 of the 16 conference games, ranking sixth in the conference in scoring.
• She is the third Coyote to win this award, joining Caitlin Duffy (2015-16) and Hannah Sjerven (2018-19).
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-SUMMIT
• After receiving preseason second team all-conference honors this season, Angelina Robles showed out, and earned herself a first team all-Summit League honor as a senior.
• Robles shined as the Yote point guard, totaling 16.4 points and 3.6 assists during league play. Both numbers were best on the team and top five in the league.
• She ranked fifth in scoring and second in assists during league play, shooting .394/.375/.853.
• Ranks fourth in the league in free throw percentage.
• She also tallied 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
 
ALL-NEWCOMER & HONORABLE MENTION
• Elise Turrubiates made her impact on South Dakota women's basketball this season, and received all-Newcomer and all-Summit League honorable mention honors for her performance.
• Turrubiates totaled 7.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game during conference play. She also averaged 1.6 steals.
• Her 7.9 rebounds are tied for fifth in the league during conference play and her 1.6 steals is tied for fourth.
   
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