VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota women's head coach Kayla Karius has announced that Nicole Avila-Ambrosi will transfer from Cal Baptist to South Dakota. She will join the Coyotes this fall with three years of eligibility remaining.
 
"Nicole is going to be a great addition to our pack!" said Karius. "She is a proven collegiate shooter and gives us some much needed experience in the backcourt. Her energy and enthusiasm for USD is hard to ignore. She's a driven student-athlete, who brings a 4.0 GPA and the plan to attend medical school after her time here at USD. Welcome Nicole and the Avila-Ambrosi family to USD!"
 
Avila-Ambrosi played the last two seasons at California Baptist. As a freshman, she helped the Lancers complete a perfect record in the regular season, going undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference and winning the 2021 WAC Tournament. She averaged 10.9 points while shooting 39 percent from 3-point land en route to making the WAC's all-newcomer team. She scored 297 points, grabbed 79 rebounds and dished out 45 assists in 39 games for the Lancers.
 
A 5-foot-8 guard from Omaha, Nebraska, Avila-Ambrosi graduated as Millard North's all-time leading scorer with 1,433 points. She also holds the school record for points scored in a single game (36). She was the 2020 Ron Park Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a two-time Nebraska Class A all-state honoree and a four-time all-Metro Conference pick. Avila-Ambrosi helped the Mustangs reach the state tournament twice, winning it all in 2019. She even landed on ESPN SportCenter's Top 10 plays with a spinning reverse layup in the championship game. She averaged 19.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a senior while shooting 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range.
 
Off the court, Avila-Ambrosi made the President's List and WAC academic all-conference team at Cal Baptist. She was a National Honor Society and National Society of High School Scholars member as a prep, receiving the NCPA Academic All-State awards throughout high school. She plans to major in medical biology at South Dakota.
 
Avila-Ambrosi joins incoming freshmen Joy Bergstrom (Mount Prospect, Ill.) and Walker Demers (Grafton, N.D.) as newcomers this season.