Starting it’s season with a big win in their season opener against Northern Arizona, the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team is preparing for another tough non-conference opponent, Creighton.
A year ago, the Coyotes suffered their only home loss of the season at the hands of the Bluejays in a close 70-79 game at the DakotaDome.
Senior guard Annie Roche said team still remembers the tough loss against Creighton last year.
“It was a big game for us last year in the Dome. It was a very highly contested game,” Roche said. “We came out on the losing end so we are excited to come out on top this year.”
On Nov. 18, the Coyotes defeated Northern Arizona in their season opener, 73-56, and are taking the momentum they gained into this week’s challenging match up.
Head coach Ryun Williams, who is in his fourth season at USD, said the team is looking to build off the first win of the season.
“The Northern Arizona game was a big start for us,” Williams said. “We shot the ball extremely well and played very well together, which was exciting.”
Leading the way for the Coyotes in the win over Northern Arizona was senior forward Amber Hegge who led the team with 30 points in the game.
Junior guard Alexis Yackley had a career high 12 assists in the game along with six points.
Creighton is coming into the game with a record of 2-1 with wins against the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State. The Bluejays suffered a 59-73 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Nov. 16.
The Coyotes have been working in practice to defend Creighton’s standout player, Carly Tritz, who won the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year.
Williams said the Coyotes will need to always have an eye on where Tritz is on the floor.
“Creighton runs everything through Tritz, who is a difficult player to handle,” Williams said. “We need to be sharp in a lot of categories to get a win on their home floor.”
USD will tipoff against the Bluejays at 7:05 p.m. Nov. 22 in Omaha, Neb.
