Coyotes face biggest test yet
With a 5-1 record, the Coyotes could have their best start to their season since 2008 if they can pull off a win against Northern Iowa Saturday.
Last year, the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team fell to the Panthers 64-73.
The Coyotes return to the campus of UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in search of their first win against the Panthers since 2009.
Senior forward Amber Hegge has 19.7 points per game, which is third overall in the Summit League, she said in order to win, the team must stick to what
they do best.
“We need to just do what we do,” Hegge said. “That’s been our motto this year, we need to just play our game, play well defensively and hopefully not struggle as much offensively as we have in previous games.”
The Coyotes currently lead the Summit League in scoring defense with just 45.8 points per game.
Head coach Ryun Williams said the team will need to play their best basketball of the year if they hope to come away with a win Wednesday.
“We expect to see a very, very good basketball team,” Williams said. “They are athletic, they play fast, so we know we have a challenge on our hands. We are going to have to play our best game of the year up to this point to win.”
The Panthers are coming into the game with a 6-2 record, with the most recent game against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay resulting in a 67-75 loss, with their other loss coming from the University of Iowa by a score of 74-78.
Williams said while the Panthers may be the favorite, his team still has the weapons to compete.
“It seems like we match-up well at every position,” Williams said. “ We have good guard play, good inside play and I think (Hegge) is tough match-up for each of our opponents, including Northern Iowa and they will have to do something to try to stop her, and we will take what they give us.”
Hegge said the Panthers are the biggest test the team has faced up to this point in the season.
“They are definitely a great team,” Hegge said. “We will need to start games better than we have in the past, if we do that I think will have a better chance to come out with a win.”
