Coyote women prepare for Summit League Tournament

After Saturday’s win against Western Illinois in the DakotaDome, the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team sits top-seeded for the Summit League Tournament.

“I’m really proud of our team for finishing things off with an undefeated home season and regular season championship. That is a pretty special thing to accomplish,” head coach Amy Williams said. “It shows the willingness to come and work every single night of the season.”

The program has been focusing on defense throughout the year, and the season has prepared them for it.

“We have gotten comfortable with each other and know what we need to work on to be successful,” senior guard Nicole Seekamp said. “For us, that is defense, and if we can continue to keep working defensively, we are going to be a tough team to beat.”

Williams has the same idea.

“When we do guard and when we do rebound we can be pretty special,” she said. “We haven’t always done that all year, but when we do I like our chances.”

The last two years in the league have provided them with experience, and this year, road wins have particularly helped the Coyotes.

“We know what to expect, we know how crazy the crowd is and how all that outside pressure can affect us,” senior forward Lisa Loeffler said. “Having that experience we will be able to shut it out more and focus more than last year.”

The motto for the team has been to take one game at a time, and they are continuing with that idea through post-season.

“Whatever team shows up to play is going to be the winner,” junior guard Tia Hemiller said. “We will have to be aggressive, lock up and play defense. If we can string three great games together and play like it’s our last, we will have a good chance.”

Since they’ve only lost one player since last year, their experience will be similar to last year’s — except that they are first seed, which means a win guarantees a day off.

“That first round game isn’t going to be easy, and we are going to have to take care of business,” Williams said. “If we happen to do that we can look forward to the day off.”

Knowing they had a good team last year helps prepare them for this year.

“I knew we had a special team last year,” said senior guard Raeshel Contreras. “I knew as we came together and grew we were going to be even better. Winning (last year) gave everyone confidence — made everyone step-up to know their plays and play their role.”

The first-seeded Coyotes, with the record of 13-3 in the Summit League, take on eighth-seeded Fort Wayne (3-13) at 12 p.m Saturday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

“Every time we huddled this year it was one team one dream. Our dream is to be back in the NCAA tournament,” Williams said. “It is very evident the parody in our league, anybody on any given night can win, but we are going to be confident heading into it.”