Coyote Women Earn Berth in WBI Tournament

[coyoterj]

From www.usdcoyotes.com


Vermillion, S.D. -- The South Dakota women's basketball team has accepted a berth to play in the Women's Basketball Invitational postseason tournament, the school announced on Saturday. The Coyotes, one of two Great West Conference teams to accept bids, will be competing in the postseason for the first time since making the move to Division I status.

"It’s an honor to represent our university and the Great West Conference in the WBI postseason tournament," South Dakota head coach Ryun Williams said. "It’s a nice reward for a really nice season that our kids have had."

The Women’s Basketball Invitational is a 16-team, single-elimination tournament created last year to afford additional postseason opportunities for women’s college teams not making the NCAA tournament field. The WBI tournament is in an East/West format with each side seeded 1-8. Last year, top-seed Appalachian State from the east defeated the west’s top seed Memphis in the championship game.

Tournament seeds and game sites will be determined when the bracket is released on Monday night, March 14. The first-round games will be held on March 16 and 17.

The Coyotes (19-11) were the regular-season runners-up in the Great West Conference with a 10-2 mark. They will join league champion Chicago State in the field.

South Dakota is 10-2 since Jan. 22 and had a six-game winning streak to close the regular season.

The pairings for the 16-team tournament will be announced on Monday night, March 14, via www.womensbasketballinvitational.com.

[jman1985]

Only 4 teams have been officially announced for the WBI — South Dakota, Chicago State, Elon and Central Arkansas

I would imagine USD would be on the road in the first round. Bracket is broken up into East & West, and I'd bet good money Chicago State will host.

[usdlaw]

Won't know until tonight when all NCAA and WNIT fields are set. I doubt with the loss in the conference tourney that USD will host. Had USD won the GWC I think we would have hosted a game. Will let you know as soon as I hear.

[usdlaw]

Holy cow, we might be hosting a game. Stay tuned to further developments. Keep your week open because you might all be heading to Verm.

Go Yotes

[Charlie]

Thursday at home vs. Idaho. Get your tickets. See you at the dome. Go Yotes.

[usdlaw]

Thursday will be like Christmas with all the Green and Red in the house. I hope we have a little luck of the Irish in us. What a perfect St Pattys day. Yotes game then green beer. Students - get your early drink on, then get loud and cheer on the Yotes - they deserve your attendance, then celebrate the night away with green beer at Carey's.

[yotemeal]

Appears to be a winnable game for the ladies, particularly in the Dome. Reading the tournament press release, there are several games in which the better seed is, for whatever reason, not hosting. Idaho is actually the 2 seed in the west region, while USD is the 7.

I'd like to see IPFW and USD advance to the west region final.

RELEASE:

MILWAUKEE, WI — Sixteen teams from across the country help highlight the field as Sport Tours International, Inc., announces the 2011 Women’s Basketball Invitationa pairings. The 16-team event begins with first round games on campus sites Wednesday, Mar. 16 and Thursday, Mar. 17.

In the West region, #1 seed Cleveland State takes a 20-11 record to face fellow 20-win team IPFW in Fort Wayne, Ind. IPFW, the #8 seed, gets to host the game due to a conflict at CSU. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. on Mar. 16. In a battle of Illinois mid- major powers #5 Chicago State will travel to #4 seed Eastern Illinois. The 17-win Cougars will face th 18-win Panthers at 6 p.m. on Mar. 16.

“We are really excited to have these 16 teams in our second annual WBI,” Executive Director Emily Bauer said. “We have a great mix of teams from all over the country and college basketball out there and we are honored to be a part of it.”

Idaho, a Western Athletic Conference member, earned the #2 seed in the West but will travel to #7 seed South Dakota. The Vandals will travel to Vermillion, S.D. for a 7 p.m. showdown on Mar. 17 versus the 19-win Coyotes. In the final West region game #3 Cal State Bakersfield will host #6 seed Northern Colorado. CSUB is a repeat WBI participant and will face Northern Colorado at 7:30 p.m. on Mar. 16.

Wright State is the second #1 seed from the Horizon League as the Raiders host #8 seed Buffalo from the Mid-American Conference in the East region. WSU and Buffalo will square off at 7 p.m. on Mar. 16. Sacred Heart brings a record of 18-12 into the WBI and earned the #4 seed but because of hosting difficulties will travel to #5 Manhattan. The 22-win Jaspers will face SHU at 7 p.m. on Mar. 17 in New York City.

UAB headlines the bottom half of the East region as the #2 seed. However, due to hosting conflicts the Blazers will travel to 21-11 Central Arkansas in a 7 p.m. game on Mar. 17. UCA is the #7 seed in the East. The final first round contest features #3 seed Elon hosting #6 USC Upstate. The Phoenix, 19-12, and Upstate, 17-12, will play at 7 p.m. on Mar. 17.

The second round WBI games will be held Saturday or Sunday, Mar. 19 and 20 with the semifinals set for Mar. 23 or 24. The 2011 WBI title game will be held Mar. 26 or 27. All games are hosted by the higher seed unless hosting conflicts arise. All game times are local to the site. Please continue to check the official 2011 WBI website, www.womensbasketballinvitational.com for scores and further updates. You can also follow the teams and get up-to-date information, scores, and stats on each participating team’s athletic website.

-- www.womensbasketballinvitational.com --

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

Interesting how USD gets to host, but I will take it. It is a winnable game against a 15-15 team....how did they get a 2 seed with that record? Apparently it's been 25 years since Idaho has been in a postseason tourney, too....

Hopefully USD gets to come away with a win. Better way to end than with the Houston Baptist game, yikes. They might get a rematch with Northern Colorado as well.

[sdsportsfan2010]

Mar 15, 2011 1:41:21 GMT -6 #1CoyoteFan (Admin) said:

Interesting how USD gets to host, but I will take it. It is a winnable game against a 15-15 team....how did they get a 2 seed with that record? Apparently it's been 25 years since Idaho has been in a postseason tourney, too....

Hopefully USD gets to come away with a win. Better way to end than with the Houston Baptist game, yikes. They might get a rematch with Northern Colorado as well.

Idaho drew 1000 one game and that was against Boise St. Other than that most were under 400. Im sure that has a lot to do with it.

[usdlaw]

www.usdcoyotes.com/sports/wbball/release.asp?release_id=6297

Bracket attached (pdf)

Vermillion, S.D. -- The South Dakota women’s basketball team will play host to Idaho in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational postseason tournament on Thursday, March 17 at 6 p.m. at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D. The WBI announced the pairings for the 16-team field on Monday night.

It is the first postseason appearance for the Coyote women since making the transition to Division I. South Dakota is 12-1 at the DakotaDome this season.

Tickets for the game can be ordered by calling [phone]. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for students. No season tickets or passes will be admitted.

The Coyotes (19-11) enter the tournament having won 10 of their last 12 games. South Dakota finished second in the Great West Conference with a 10-2 mark. Junior forward Amber Hegge (Crofton, Neb.) leads the Coyotes in scoring at 17.0 points and in rebounding at 8.2 points per game.

Idaho (15-15) is a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Vandals finished 7-9 in the WAC in 2010-11. Idaho averages 63.5 points per game and allows 63.9. The Vandals are led by Yinka Olorunnife at 14.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, while Rachele Kloke is at 11.4 points per game. Jon Newlee is in his third season at Idaho with a record of 39-50 at the school.

If the Coyotes win, they will face the winner of the Cal-State Bakersfield vs. Northern Colorado game in the second round of the tournament.

[yotemeal]

Can't say I'm an expert on WAC women's basketball. It appears Fresno State and La Tech were the class of that conference this year. The former is a 12 seed in the NCAAs and the latter is a 10 seed, which indicates a certain level of respect. By comparison, SDSU's women, a pretty good team, are a 15 seed.

And NCAA tournament selection committees always get seeding right

Anyway, Idaho went 0 for the season against both of those teams, but otherwise appeared to remain reasonably competitve in conference. Nothing blows me away about them on paper.

Tickets for Thursday are reasonably priced ($10 for adults, $5 for students). Hopefully we can get a rowdy student section in there and a decent sized crowd. Let's just hope St. Patty's Day festivities and the lure of the Big Big Dance doesn't keep people away.

[usdlaw]

I just hope our fans reward the ladies with good attendance. They deserve it. I haven't looked but how many WAC schools are in the big dance or WNIT?

[usdlaw]

I don't know if you all realized this, but it says on the bracket that the game was at 7pm. That is NOT CORRECT. The game is ACTUALLY AT 6 PM.

Brad just told me that from the ticket office. Glad he did or I would have showed up way late.

PLEASE NOTE GAME TIME AND SPREAD THE WORD.

[usdlaw]

copied below from an email I just received. Note the ticket sales for HP members first, another reason to join. Hint hint.

"The South Dakota women's basketball team will host the University of Idaho Vandals in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational Postseason Tournament on Thursday, March 17th at the DakotaDome. Doors will open at 5PM with tipoff at 6PM.



Tickets for the game are $10 for adults and children are free with an accompanying adult. USD Students are free with a valid student ID. Season ticket holders and Howling Pack members may purchase tickets from 9AM-5PM on Tuesday, March 15th and 9AM-5PM on Wednesday, March 16th. From 9AM-5PM on Thursday, March 17th, all tickets will go on sale to the general public. To purchase tickets, please call the USD Ticket Office at 605-677-5959. All tickets will be available to pick up at will call on Thursday starting at 5PM when the doors open.



This will mark the first postseason appearance for the Coyote women since making the transition to Division I. South Dakota is 12-1 at the DakotaDome this season.

The Coyotes (19-11) enter the tournament having won 10 of their last 12 games. South Dakota finished second in the Great West Conference with a 10-2 mark. Junior forward Amber Hegge (Crofton, NE) leads the Coyotes in scoring at 17.0 points and in rebounding at 8.2 points per game.

Idaho (15-15) is a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Vandals finished 7-9 in the WAC in 2010-11. Idaho averages 63.5 points per game and allows 63.9. The Vandals are led by Yinka Olorunnife at 14.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, while Rachele Kloke is at 11.4 points per game. Jon Newlee is in his third season at Idaho with a record of 39-50 at the school.

If the Coyotes win, they will face the winner of the Cal-State Bakersfield vs. Northern Colorado game in the second round of the tournament.



***Please note the time is listed incorrectly on the attached WBI bracket. The game will be played at 6PM***"

[usdlaw]

Congrats ladies on a great win. Good luck in California, go get another one. Go Yotes Jodi Boss is a stud, she was dominant tonight