Frederick finishes strong with 30-2 USD women's basketball team
VERMILLION, S.D. -- Taylor Frederick, the daughter of Jay and Kathy Frederick, Earling, was a member of the record-setting 2019-2020 South Dakota women’s basketball team. The 6-foot-1 senior forward is a 2016 graduate of Harlan Community High School and is a math education major.
On Tuesday, March 10, in Sioux Falls, Frederick and the Coyote women capped an outstanding season by winning the program’s first Summit League Tournament championship since 2014 with a 63-58 victory over rival South Dakota State. USD went 30-2 overall and completed a perfect 16-0 conference slate. The Coyotes were ranked 17th nationally in NCAA Division I by the Associated Press, earned a No. 11 ranking in the coaches poll and were expected to earn a favorable seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Coyotes’ season came to an unexpected halt when the NCAA cancelled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and many other upcoming events due to public health concerns over COVID-19.
Frederick’s senior season at USD was her best yet. She recently earned the Summit League’s Sixth Woman of the Year award and was also named Honorable Mention All-League after averaging a career-best 10.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. She played in all 32 games for the Coyotes, making one start, and notched 16 minutes per contest. Additional career-bests for Frederick included a .538 field goal percentage, a .700 free throw percentage (56-for-80), 63 offensive rebounds, 81 defensive rebounds and 34 assists. She added eight three-pointers in 22 attempts, 18 steals and seven blocked shots. She scored a season-high 20 points at Omaha on January 29 and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds at Denver on February 2.
Frederick started all 34 games for USD as a junior in 2018-19, averaging 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds as the Coyotes became the first Summit League women’s team to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. She also helped the Coyotes reach the WNIT as a sophomore and freshman, including a trip to that tournament’s quarterfinals in 2018.
For her career, Frederick finished with 822 points (6.2 ppg) and 406 rebounds (3.1 rpg) in 132 career games. South Dakota compiled a remarkable record of 110-24 during Frederick’s career.
On January 17, the University of South Dakota submitted a feature story on Frederick. The story can be viewed at https://goyotes.com/news/2020/1/17/womens-basketball-old-recruiting-letter-cements-fredericks-legacy-at-usd.aspx