Women head to WBI

The University of South Dakota women’s basketball team is headed to Logan, Utah to take on Utah State in the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) Tournament Thursday at 8 p.m.

The women are making their third straight postseason appearance.  The team made it to the second round of the WNIT last season and in 2011 also made it to the second round of the WBI.

The Coyotes fell just short of making the NCAA tournament, after losing to South Dakota State University in the finals of the Summit League Conference Tournament, 56-53. However the Coyotes still have a little more basketball left to play.

Senior guard Tempestt Wilson said the team is happy the season isn’t over.

“We’re not disappointed about missing the WNIT. We were hoping to maybe make it, since it’s the next big thing,” Wilson said. But it’s good that we are still playing basketball.”

The team will be taking on Utah State in the first round of the tournament. This is a rematch of earlier in the season when the two teams met up in Logan, Utah once again.  The Coyotes lost that game, 70-69, after Utah State hit a three pointer with seven seconds left in the game. Now, the Coyotes are looking to redeem themselves.

Wilson said she is going to enjoy playing Utah State for a second time this season.

“We learned a lot from that game early in the season, and it kind of helped drive us,” Wilson said. “Now, we know that both teams are playing their best basketball, so we really have to be focused. We also have all kinds of weapons now that we didn’t have at the beginning of the season, so hopefully that helps change the outcome from last time.”

Utah State finished the season 18-13 and was 10-2 during the regular season at home.

If the Coyotes win they will take on the winner of the Lamar vs. Presbyterian game on either Saturday or Sunday.