Coyote Women Clinging to Slim Lead in Summit League Standings, Host Denver

The South Dakota women's basketball team is one game away from closing out the first half of the 2015 Summit League season in first place, but to do it they'll have to shake off their biggest loss of the conference schedule so far.

Last week began on a high note, with the Coyotes' first ever win in Fort Wayne, a 73-72 victory over the Mastodons.

In that game, USD overcame 19 turnovers, 25 percent first half shooting, and a 31-point performance from IPFW's Haley Seibert.

I asked head coach Amy Williams about the win:

Saturday's 68-43 loss at IUPUI snapped USD's four game win streak.

In this game, the Coyotes turned it over 21 times, shot just 33 percent from the floor, and made just two of 13 three-point attempts, but only trailed by three points with 12 minutes, until the Jaguars went on a 27-5 run to blow the game open.

Coach Williams on the loss:

South Dakota returns to Vermillion this week for the first of three straight Summit League home games.

Wednesday night, the Coyotes host Denver.

The Pioneers don't score a lot of points (8th in the conference in offense), but do boast a trio of talented three-point shooters (Paige Bradley, Morgan Van Riper-Rose, and Jordan Johnston), who combine for about 15 long range attempts per game.

Denver can be stingy defensively, holding opponents to the second lowest shooting percentage in the Summit League (41%). Bradley leads the defensive charge with the second-most steals in Summit League play.

Coach Williams on the match-up:

Tipoff is 7:00 PM Wednesday in Vermillion.