South Dakota jumps to No. 22 in Associated Press Poll

VERMILLION, S.D. (GoYotes.com) —South Dakota women’s basketball has moved back into the Associated Press Top 25 this week at No. 22. It marks the highest ranking the Coyotes have earned in the AP Top 25 in four weeks of being ranked the last two seasons.

No. 22 South Dakota (14-2, 3-0) kicked off Summit League action with three wins in eight days by an average scoring margin of 32 points.

Senior guard Ciara Duffy, the reigning Summit League Player of the Week, is averaging 17 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in Summit League play. She’s one of four Coyotes averaging double-figures in league play, joined by junior center Hannah Sjerven with 15 points, junior guard Chloe Lamb with 13 points and senior forward Taylor Frederick with 12 points a game. Yesterday’s 104-61 victory over Denver saw Duffy, Sjerven and Frederick each record double-doubles in a rare feat.

South Dakota is ranked in the AP Top 25 for the second time this season, previously clocking in at No. 25 on Dec. 16. Prior to this year, only four other Summit League teams had ever made it into the AP Top 25 with one of those being the 2018-19 Coyotes.

The Coyotes tip-off against Omaha at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first half of a doubleheader with the South Dakota men inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Tickets are available on GoYotes.com.