Season and home openers against NCAA Tournament teams, eight nonconference home games and a Thanksgiving tournament in Cancun highlight the 2017-18 South Dakota women’s basketball schedule announced Monday by head coach Dawn Plitzuweit.
This year’s schedule features eight opponents whom reached the postseason in 2017 and four who qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Coyotes face two of those programs right off the bat by opening the season at Iowa State on Nov. 10 and opening at home against Creighton on Nov. 14. The Cyclones averaged more than 9,000 fans per game inside the Hilton Coliseum a year ago, which ranked third in the nation. In recent history, the Coyotes ended the Bluejays’ season twice in the first round of the WNIT in 2015 and 2016 inside the DakotaDome.
After a game at Wichita State on Nov. 18, the Coyotes fly to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge (Nov. 23-25). USD is slated to play Oklahoma State, Indiana State and Tennessee in the three-day tournament.
A return trip to Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 2) and a game at Incarnate Word (Dec. 4) in Texas wrap up nonconference road trips as the Coyotes close out 2017 with a five-game home stand.
The Coyotes welcome 2016-17 opponents CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 9), Tulsa (Dec. 16) and UC Riverside (Dec. 19) to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Co-Big Sky champion North Dakota (Dec. 21) also returns to Vermillion for the second-straight year. The Coyotes have taken four of the last five against the Fighting Hawks, including a 78-55 victory in the first round of the WNIT last season.
The 14-game Summit League slate kicks off with the Coyotes hosting Denver on Dec. 30. Defending Summit League champion Western Illinois visits Vermillion on Feb. 1. Game one of the USD-SDSU series takes place in Brookings on Jan. 25. South Dakota goes for four-straight at home against the Jacks on Feb. 21, which will also serve as senior day and wrap up the regular season.
