AP

South Dakota’s March Madness success elicits statewide pride

Mar 23, 2022, 2:12 AM | Updated: 2:46 pm

South Dakota head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, right, questions a call during the first half of a college...

South Dakota head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, right, questions a call during the first half of a college basketball game against Baylor in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Waco, Texas, Sunday, March 20, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

(AP Photo/LM Otero)


              FILE - South Dakota's Mandy Koupal puts a shot up for two of her 26 points during the Women's NCAA Division II North Central Regional semifinal game against North Dakota State, Saturday, March 15, 2003, in Brookings, S.D. 
Koupal and a South Dakota teammate from nearly two decades ago didn't want to jinx it, but as the Coyotes were closing in on their historic upset of Baylor and first appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16, the two started planning a road trip. Koupal was a two-time Division II national player of the year (2003 and ‘04) and remains the school's all-time leading scorer. (AP Photo/Eric Landwehr, File)
            
              South Dakota head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, right, questions a call during the first half of a college basketball game against Baylor in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Waco, Texas, Sunday, March 20, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
            
              South Dakota center Hannah Sjerven (34) screams as she heads to huddle with guard Chloe Lamb (22) and other teammates during the first half of a college basketball game against Baylor in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Waco, Texas, Sunday, March 20, 2022.  (AP Photo/LM Otero)
            
              The South Dakota bench cheers during the second half of a college basketball game against Baylor in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Waco, Texas, Sunday, March 20, 2022. . (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Mandy Koupal and a South Dakota teammate from nearly two decades ago didn’t want to jinx it, but as the Coyotes were closing in on their upset of Baylor and first appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16, the two started planning a road trip.

Koupal and Stacy (Schooley) Hendricks will be riding in a caravan of vehicles from the Mount Rushmore State to Kansas for the Wichita Region semifinal, where the 10th-seeded Coyotes (29-5) play No. 3 seed Michigan (24-6) on Saturday.

“We have the motto at USD, ‘It’s always a great day to be a Coyote,’ ” Koupal said Wednesday. “But when stuff like this happens, you have to admit you feel extra bounce in your step. You’re so excited to see how far the program has come going from D-II to where it’s at today.”

Koupal has lived the South Dakota women’s basketball experience. She was a two-time Division II national player of the year (2003 and ’04) and remains the school’s all-time leading scorer. She was a graduate assistant and assistant for four of the five years the Coyotes were transitioning to Division I.

She’s now a schoolteacher and assistant on the girls high school team in her hometown of Wagner, South Dakota. She also has stayed on top of things going on on campus in Vermillion.

“You see how special a team they are — the passion, the positive energy from everyone,” Koupal said. “Whether it’s the five on the court — the way they play with heart and have this humble confidence about them — or the bench. It’s almost as fun to watch the bench as it is the game because they’re so into it and good vibes are flowing. How could you not be rooting for them?”

The Coyotes have nine players with at least three years’ experience and South Dakota is in its fourth straight NCAA Tournament and fifth overall in its 10th year as a full Division I member. The Coyotes shot 56% from the field while beating seventh-seeded Mississippi 75-61 in the first round. They held second-seeded Baylor to its lowest point total since 2015 in an eye-catching 61-47 win, which ended the Bears’ streak of 12 straight Sweet 16s.

“They play basketball the right way, and they’re just a solid team,” said university president Sheila Gestring, a South Dakota native who played basketball at Sioux Falls College and went to graduate school at USD. “On campus, everybody is excited, and so is the alumni, the community and the state. The buzz has been really, really fun.”

Making it especially fun is the close connection between the team and fans. USD has an enrollment of just under 11,000 in Vermillion, population 12,000, in the southeast corner of the state. The Coyotes led the Summit League in attendance, just ahead of their rival 115 miles to the north, South Dakota State.

SDSU also has had high-level success in women’s basketball, becoming the first Summit League team to make the Sweet 16 three years ago. Gestring said she hopes even SDSU fans, at least some of them, will root for the Coyotes for at least one weekend.

“They did the same thing back in 2019,” Gestring said, “and it brings a great deal of pride to our state overall when our programs are thriving.”

Four Coyotes players are from the state and eight others are from neighboring Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa.

With the growth of AAU summer programs, Koupal said, high school basketball is played at a level that belies the fact South Dakota ranks 46th in population at just under 900,000.

Fifth-year senior Chloe Lamb, the Summit League player of the year, is from the central South Dakota farm town of Onida, pop. 740. Freshman Kyah Watson, who led a defensive effort that limited Baylor All-American NaLyssa Smith to a season-low 10 points, is from Rapid City on the west end of the state.

“The state of South Dakota has done a great job of providing opportunities for girls to really establish their game,” Koupal said. “You find hard-working kids who spend a lot of time in the gym or in their driveway at home. They just have a ball in their hands and want to get better and enjoy the sport.”

The Coyotes’ success in women’s basketball dates to regular appearances in the Division II tournaments in the 1980s and again in the early 2000s. They played for the Division II championship in 2008, losing to Northern Kentucky.

“It started in the Division II era, and the great thing is that our alumni have been really, really special in terms of supporting us into the Division I era,” sixth-year coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “It’s a big moment for everyone that’s involved in our program.”

Gestring said she hopes for at least 2,500 fans at 15,000-seat Intrust Bank Arena this weekend. More than 1,200 tickets had been sold through the USD ticket office as of Wednesday, and students can get free tickets and a ride on a charter bus.

“We’re particularly loud fans, so it sounds like there are more of us than there are sometimes,” Gestring said, laughing. “I think there’s going to be quite a following.”

___

More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

South Dakota’s March Madness success elicits statewide pride