Today, the University of South Dakota held a press conference to introduce the new Coyote Women's basketball head coach, Dawn Plitzuweit. She is the 10th women's basketball head coach in the history of USD following Amy Williams, the new head coach at Nebraska.
In nine years as a head coach, Plitzuweit (PLITTS-zoo-white) has put together an 188-93 record for a winning percentage of .669. Since she began coaching in 1995, she has guided programs to 19 winning seasons at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels, including 10 NCAA tournament appearances.
As a head coach, Plitzuweit led her teams to eight postseason appearances, the most notable being a 2006 NCAA Division II Championship at Grand Valley State. She also led Northern Kentucky through the NCAA Division I transition with four consecutive WBI berths.
In her four years there, she has posted at least 15 wins each season, the last two years having 19 wins. Overall she had an overall record of 71-54 as the leader for the Norse.
Plitzuweit began her coaching career at her alma mater, Michigan Tech, under her collegiate coach, Kevin Borseth. That duo coached together for 11 seasons with stops at Michigan Tech, Green Bay and Michigan.
A 1995 graduate of Michigan Tech, Plitzuweit earned back-to-back Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year awards, four all-conference honors, and three all-defensive team nods. She led the Huskies to a 99-22 record and four appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
She was a Division II Bulletin second-team All-America selection and a two-time Kodak All-America honorable mention pick (1994, 1995). She earned WBCA All-Academic accolades in 1994 and 1995 and was named Michigan's NCAA Woman of the Year in 1995.
A native of West Bend, Wis., Plitzuweit and her husband, Jay, have a son, A.J., and a daughter, Lexi.