Women’s basketball off to rocky start
The women’s basketball team is off to a rocky start after losing its first two games.
On Friday, the Coyotes faced off against Utah in Salt Lake City for the opening game of the season. The game was back and forth between the two teams, with the lead changing a total of seven times throughout the game.
Neither team led by more than eight points throughout the night.
Utah would outlast USD though, going on a 9-2 run in the last three-minute span in the fourth quarter to win the game 66-59.
“It was definitely a close game, one of those games where after a game you just look at all of the little things that added up,” said senior guard Kelly Stewart. “We just felt like we should have came out with a win in that one and we kind of beat ourselves in the end. We didn’t execute mentally (or) physically.”
Tia Hemiller, a senior guard, said Tuesday afternoon that the team learned from their mistakes over the weekend and they were taking steps during Monday’s practice to fix them for its upcoming game against the University of Northern Iowa.
“They played zone on us and I think we’ll do a better job now attacking the zone,” she said. “I thought we had them until the very last quarter. They were making shots and we weren’t.”
Hemiller, who scored nine points Friday night, said the team was expecting UNI to play zone later during the night.
“Hopefully we can do better and lock up our defense and get a win tonight,” she said.
Stewart was also optimistic about Tuesday night’s game.
“We’re feeling really good about it. Northern Iowa is a very talented team that didn’t graduate anyone last year and they’ve all been playing with each other for a long time and they run a lot of sets.”
On Tuesday night, however, that optimism was replaced with disappointment after the Panthers beat the Coyotes 64-43. USD shot 28.1 percent from the field and finished 1-for-10 beyond the arc.
“We were playing a bit rushed under pressure instead of with poise, which I believe caused a few of the shooting woes,” said head coach Amy Williams during a press conference. “Even more concerning is having only seven assists and 19 turnovers – that’s not the way we want to play basketball. There is a bit of a learning curve early in the season with seven new players and some of that will come with time.”
The Coyotes will look to improve when they play Kansas State at 7 p.m. in Manhattan, Kansas.
