The 2019–20 South Dakota Coyotes women's basketball team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Coyotes, led by fourth-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, competed in the Summit League. They played their home games in Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota. The Coyotes finished the season ranked 17th in the AP Poll and eleventh in the coaches poll. It was the highest finish by any Summit League team, and they were in the top 25 ranking for 16 straight weeks, also setting a record.https://goyotes.com/news/2020/3/17/womens-basketball-south-dakota-17th-in-final-associated-press-poll.asp

Previous season The Coyotes went 28–6 overall and 14–2 in Summit League play. At one point during the season, South Dakota were ranked for the first time in school history. In the Summit League Tournament, the Coyotes reached the championship game for the sixth time in the past seven years, and again faced South Dakota State for the fifth time in those six years. South Dakota reached the NCAA tournament, after the Summit League tournament loss to South Dakota State, as an at-large bid to the Portland Regional as a number 8 seed. They faced off against the Clemson, but lost 79–66.

Offseason

Departures Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure Allison Arens 10 G 5'10" Senior Crofton, NE Graduated Courtney Schoenbeck 4 G 5'8" Freshman Walworth, WI Transferred to Wisconsin-Parkside

Roster

Schedule

!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season

!colspan=9 style=| Summit League regular season

!colspan=9 style=| Summit League Women's Tournament

Rankings

+ Regular season pollsPoll Pre-season Week2 Week3 Week4 Week5 Week6 Week7 Week8 Week9 Week10 Week11 Week12 Week13 Week14 Week15 Week16 Week17 Week18 Week19 Final AP RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 RV RV 22 25 24 21 22 21 20 20 17 17 17 Coaches RV RV RV RV 24 21 21 22 22 22 21 18 18 17 16 15 12 12 11 11 + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week (RV)   Received votes (NR)   Not ranked

References