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Coyotes crack top 25 in AP poll
Photo Illustration by Molly Schiermeyer and Leah Dusterhoft I The Volante
Bailey Zubke
Bailey.Zubke@coyotes.usd.edu
USD women’s basketball landed 25th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. This is the first time in program history that USD has been ranked by the AP. The Coyotes received votes for ten straight weeks before Monday’s latest rankings. “It certainly is a very special honor for the young ladies for the effort and the time they have put in. It just means a lot to our program that we’re continuing
to be in the conversation among the best programs out there.” head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. The Coyotes first received votes this season in early December after beating at the time No. 23 Iowa State. The win was the Coyotes first victory over an AP Top 25 opponent. USD won their second game against a Top 25 opponent on Dec. 15 against then No. 22 Missouri. In other rankings, the Coyotes are second in the collegeinsider. com Mid-Major Top 25 and first
in the ESPNW mid-major power rankings. USD also ranked 25th in the USA Today/Coaches poll announced Tuesday. The Coyotes also rank 39th in the RPI. “It’s an incredible honor, and I think too, there has been so many great teams at USD, so many great women’s basketball teams,” Junior Ciara Duffy said. “So for us to kind of have this be something we can leave with this program, all of us being a part of the first team that was ranked is a really cool legacy for us.” Charlie Creme of ESPN has the
Coyotes as an eight-seed in his latest bracketology. He has them playing in Storrs, Conn. against Auburn in the first round. The second round matchup would be either Connecticut or Robert Morris. Duffy, January’s Summit League Athlete of the Month, leads the Coyotes at 14.9 points per game. Her 18 point performance Saturday helped lead the Coyotes back from down double figures to beat Oral Roberts and keep the nine-game winning streak alive. The last USD loss
was a 104-99 loss to Denver on Jan. 3 “It was a really cool award, I was really surprised to receive it, but I think it’s something that reflects on the whole team,” Duffy said. “Because we had a really good January in terms of winning games and winning some tough games in there. That doesn’t happen without the efforts of the entire team so it reflects on everyone.” See RANKED, Page B2
USD First Family adapts to new home renovations Cecilia Gillen
Cecilia.Gillen@coyotes.usd.edu
Photo Illustration by Peyton Beyers and Austin Lammers I The Volante
Behind the Honors program’s featured research studies Austin Lammers
Austin.Lammers@coyotes.usd.edu
For Krista Honomichl, completing the Honors thesis requires a full deck of cards. The junior criminal science and political science double major is centering her study on the effects of winning on rape empathy—how power reflects empathy in cases of sexual assault. “We know from other studies that people from social power often times accept rape or blame victims more than those that are socially powerless,” she said. “So the question was ‘how do we operationalize power?’” To simulate a power spectrum,
Honomichl’s participants first play a card game similar to Blackjack. Some win, some lose. Then, they read a series of sexual assault vignettes and describe their view on who was at fault—the perpetrator or the victim. “We’re going to see if those answers change depending on if they won the game or lost the game,” Honomichl said. In addition to 52 cards, Honomichl must offer something more to complete her study: time and money–treasured possessions among the college demographic. Students who choose to complete their thesis undergo a journey that occupies three se-
mesters, and if defended, graduate with the title of “Thesis Scholar.”
The Process
The process begins with UHON 398 “Thesis Prep,” a onecredit course that students take during the fall semester of their third year. “You start getting into your thesis groove around fall of your junior year,” Honomichl said. “It goes over the basics—thinking of topics that interest you, a question you can ask based on that topic, and then finding three or four faculty members or people See HONORS, Page A3
USD President Shelia Gestring and her family moved into the renovated Inman House after Christmas. The main floor of the house was open to the public for the third time in a tour sponsored by First Dakota Title. Earlier this year, the Gestrings hosted a holiday party and a dinner at the house. Brian Limoges, director of construction service, said the project started with former USD President James Abbott, but the gears shifted once Gestring took over. “It was kind of funny because he (Abbott) had some very particular tastes, and she (Gestring) was a lot more laid back,” Limoges said. “She’s very cost conscientious, so she wasn’t willing to spend on extravagant stuff upstairs in the family’s quarters.” One of the goals of the renovation was to make the house more family-oriented and open, Laura McNaughton, USD chief of staff, said. “It was very small and not liveable,” McNaughton said. “I mean when it was just President Abbott and his wife it was fine, but with adding...a couple of kids it just needed to be upgraded. Before the building was the Inman House, it served as the alumni office, which made for small, broken up rooms, McNaughton said. “When we had the open house at Christmas time, I met a woman that had worked
here,” she said. “Her office was the bedroom upstairs.” On the main floor, the family kitchen was expanded to the west by removing a porch and blowing out a wall, Limoges said. “The island was barely big enough for three people to sit at and it wasn’t wide enough to really put anything on the island,” he said. “Now you have that huge island with all that cabinetry, and it’s really the size of the kitchen that it should be for the house.” In addition, a separate catering kitchen was created for events commonly held at the house in place of where the old garage was, McNaughton said. “Our caterers are very excited to have this space, because they just didn’t have any sort of options before,” she said. Limoges said catering for events was difficult before the remodel. “Any time there was an event they would cater, they would have to plate in the garage and carry the food up the steps,” he said. “Then the old kitchen was unusable by the family because caterers were in there trying to clean and serve.” Now a door separating the two kitchens allows Gestring’s children to get a drink or food during an event. A new public Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) bathroom also eliminates any disturbance to the family’s private area. “The only bathroom on the main floor was the one off the See HOUSE, Page A3