South Dakota names Amy Williams as women's hoops coach

Jun 4, 2012 - 5:14 PM Vermillion, SD (Sports Network) - The University of South Dakota has named Amy Williams as its new women's basketball coach.

Williams had served the past five years as the head coach at Rogers State, an NAIA school in Oklahoma. She led that program from its inception in 2007 to a record of 97-65 with consecutive NAIA Tournament appearances.

A native of Spearfish, South Dakota, Williams has also been an assistant on the Division I level at Texas-San Antonio, Oklahoma State and Tulsa.

"When we set out on the process of finding our next women's basketball coach, we had set criteria we were looking for," said USD athletic director David Sayler. "The solid Division I experience that Amy has, combined with her head coaching success, really set her apart."

South Dakota needed a replacement for Ryun Williams, who resigned in May to become the head coach at Colorado State. The Coyotes were 76-47 in four seasons under Williams and made back-to-back postseason tournament appearances in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

"I could not be more excited to return to South Dakota and build on the success this program has experienced," said Amy Williams.

Williams played four years at Nebraska. She was an assistant at UTSA for the 2000-01 season, then spent four years at Oklahoma State and two at Tulsa.