Tough weekend all-around for USD athletics
Coyotes’ football team gets three-game win streak snapped
Two weeks ago the Coyotes ended an 18 game road-losing streak, but they couldn’t capitalize on getting back-to-back road wins. Things were going the Coyotes way early on vs. Illinois St. Senior cornerback Dyllon Knox notched his third interception of the season on the opening drive of the game. However, from that point on, it was seemingly all Illinois State. The Coyotes dug themselves in a hole once again, and as good as sophomore quarterback Kevin Earl has been playing, trying to overcome a 21-point deficit yet again was too much to ask. This Coyote team has shown a lot of resilience and given lots of Coyote fans something to cheer about. Problem is, they now run into a 7-1 Youngstown State team that defeated Illinois State 59-21 a little less than three weeks ago. Good luck, Coyotes.
Volleyball no longer undefeated in conference play.
The lady Coyotes started off conference play 7-0 and saw their record skyrocket to 16-6. In the past week they traveled to Indiana to take on Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, falling 3-0 and 3-2, respectfully. If you didn’t know, now you do: Home court advantage matters. In the seven game win streak, five of the contests were in the DakotaDome. That includes victories against Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. That doesn’t take the fact away that the Coyotes still present a very dangerous team in the Summit League. They are still the No. 1 team in the conference and have back-to-back home games against South Dakota State and North Dakota State, who are a combined 6-36 this year. If they can take care of business, they should be able to control their own destiny in regards to their end-of-the-year standings.
Coyotes soccer is in the midst of a six game losing streak.
A month ago we were talking about the USD soccer team as the feel-good story of the fall season. Head coach Mandy Green transformed a 2-13-3 team into what looked like a Summit League contender. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone their way and the rest of the conference has leap-frogged in front of them. Starting 0-5 in the Summit League is putting a halt on the Cinderella story for now, but Green has these girls playing tough. Things look on the rise for USD women’s soccer.
Former USD basketball player Charlie Westbrook fails to make Miami Heat’s 15-man roster.
Westbrook, who averaged 17.45 points per game from 2010-2011, went in to the Heat’s training camp as a complete long shot. NBA teams are allowed to carry 20 players on their training camp roster and Westbrook was given the 20th spot. Westbrook, who scored 10 points in his 24 minutes of preseason action, had to go way beyond expectations to catch the eye of Miami’s president Pat Riley. The Heat are littered with veterans and didn’t have many roster spots available, especially with former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden making the roster. He’ll presumably have multiple offers to return overseas or potentially try to land in the NBA Developmental League.
