Up Next The South Dakota women's basketball team takes a four-game winning streak on the road this week for a pair of games against Great West Conference contenders. The Coyotes begin with a huge matchup at first-place Chicago State on Thursday, Feb. 10 with a 5 p.m. Central time tipoff, and conclude the week with a game at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1 p.m. Central tipoff) on Saturday, Feb. 12. The Coyotes trail Chicago State by one game in the standings and are a half-game ahead of NJIT in second place.

Media Coverage Both games can be heard on USD's flagship station, B102.7 FM, with RJ Pattison calling the action. Live video, live audio and live stats can be found at usdcoyotes.com. The games will not be televised.

Series History The Coyotes and Chicago State will meet for a third time, with the series being tied at 1-1. South Dakota won the first meeting, 73-49 on Feb. 11, 2010 but lost at Chicago State, 72-61 on Feb. 27, 2010 despite 22 points from Amber Hegge. South Dakota leads the series with NJIT 2-1. The Coyotes won the last meeting, 57-49 on March 11, 2010 at the GWC tournament. Hegge led the Coyotes with 21 points.

Scouting South Dakota South Dakota is 13-9 on the year and 4-1 in the Great West Conference and is riding a four-game winning streak heading into Saturday's contest. The Coyotes are coming off of a 69-53 win over North Dakota on Feb. 5. Amber Hegge led the Coyotes with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while Annie Roche added 13 points. Hegge leads the Coyotes in scoring (17.0 points per game), rebounding (7.6), field-goal shooting (51.5 percent) and steals (23). She is second on the team in assists as well with 52. Roche is second on the team in scoring at 9.9 and leads the Coyotes with 37 three-pointers. Sophomore guard Alexis Yackley leads the Coyotes with 63 assists while junior center Jodie Boss leads the Coyotes with 71 blocks, a single-season record. South Dakota has a +1.0 rebounding margin and a +0.5 turnover margin. The Coyotes are shooting 39.7 percent from the field, including 31.7 percent from three-point range. They average 62.6 points per game and allow 56.3, tops in the Great West. Ryun Williams is in his third season as South Dakota's head coach with a record of 46-36. In his 16th season overall, Williams has a record of 281-179. Scouting Chicago State Chicago State is 16-8 overall and 7-0 and in first place in the Great West Conference. The Cougars enter Thursday's game with South Dakota with a 10-game winning streak. Chicago State is coming off of a 86-79 win over Texas-Pan American on Feb. 5. Thursday's game will match the top scoring team in the Great West (Chicago State at 72.8 points per game) and the top scoring defense in the Great West (South Dakota at 56.3 ppg). Senior Tressa Beckel leads the Cougars at 18.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, while senior Courtney Waldon averages 17.2 points per game. Junior Janay Dockery averages 12.4 points a contest for the Cougars, who are averaging 72.8 points a game but also are shooting 42.1 percent from the field. The Cougars allow 62.2 points per game and teams are shooting 39.9 percent from the field against them. The Cougars have a +4.0 turnover margin and a +4.0 rebounding margin. Angela Jackson is in her eighth season as Chicago State's head coach. She has a record of 102-124; Jackson won her 100th career game on Jan. 29 at Seattle.

Scouting NJIT NJIT is 7-12 overall and 3-1 in the GWC; the Highlanders are a half-game behind the Coyotes in the Great West standings. NJIT has won two straight and is coming off of a 59-49 nonconference win over Savannah State on Feb. 3. Senior Jessica Gerald led NJIT with 22 points. Gerald leads NJIT at 16.1 points per game, while Rayven Johnson averages 11.3 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game. Junior Melanie Griffin, who is the team's second-leading scorer, has missed the last 11 games because of a knee injury. NJIT averages 56.5 points per game and allows 66.3; the Highlanders are shooting 35.8 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three. NJIT has a -8.3 rebounding margin and a -1.1 turnover margin. Margaret McKeon is in her fourth season as NJIT's head coach with a record of 36-70. In her ninth season overall, McKeon has a record of 106-147.

Climbing the Charts Junior forward Amber Hegge is closing in on a pair of milestones. Hegge is at 995 career points, and is five away from becoming the 19th player in Coyote women's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 points for her career. In addition, Hegge is at 493 career rebounds, just seven away from being the 19th player in school history to reach 500 rebounds for her career. If Hegge surpasses 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, she'd be just the 11th player in Coyote women's basketball history to pass both marks. Hegge is also at 102 career blocks and now is third all-time in that category. She trails second-place Mandy Koupal by 18. Junior guard Annie Roche is at 220 assists for her career and is only 46 away from 10th place all-time. Roche is also at 781 points for her career. Junior center Jodie Boss is the single-season record holder with 71 blocks, a mark that is seventh all-time in career blocks. Depending on D South Dakota's defense remains a constant in 2010-11. Overall, the Coyotes are the No. 1-ranked scoring defense in the Great West Conference at 56.3 points per game. Teams are shooting only 34.6 percent from the field against USD, a mark that is also tops in the Great West Conference and ranked in a tie for 20th in all of Division I. At home, the Coyotes have particularly stingy on defense, allowing 49.1 points per game. South Dakota has allowed 47 points or less in seven of its 11 home games. During the Coyotes' most recent four-game winning streak at home, South Dakota has allowed 44 points or less three times, including a season-low of 33 against Houston Baptist. South Dakota is 8-0 this season when allowing 50 points or less. South Dakota has held 17 of its 22 opponents to 40 percent or less field-goal shooting this season.

Last Time Out: Hegge, Coyotes Roll Past UND, 69-53 Junior forward Amber Hegge recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a dominant performance to lead the South Dakota women's basketball team to a 69-53 win over North Dakota in Great West Conference action on Feb. 5. The win improved the Coyotes to 13-9 on the season and 4-1 in the GWC. Hegge finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the contest for South Dakota. She hit 9-of-17 shots from the field. Including Hegge, four Coyotes scored in double digits. Junior guard Annie Roche followed with 13 points and sophomore guard Alexis Yackley added 11 points and five assists. Freshman Stacia Robertson contributed 10 points in the game.