South Dakota returns stateside to host Bellevue of the NAIA's North Star Athletic Association on Wednesday night. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

The Game
South Dakota will play its fourth game in a week, coming off the Cancun Challenge in Mexico. The Coyotes finished 1-2 in the tournament with losses to No. 12/14 Tennessee and Oklahoma State (RV). The game will serve as an exhibition for the Bruins, who have not played a game since Nov. 20.

The Coyotes
This year's Coyote roster features a deeper lineup and a more balanced attack. Junior guards Allison Arens and Jaycee Bradley carried the scoring load through six games a year ago with both averaging more than 32 minutes a game. Nine players average more than a quarter of playing time this season and eight are contributing between five and 12 points each. Five different Coyotes have led the team in scoring through six games. South Dakota has also played the toughest nonconference schedule to date in the Summit League. USD is the only team to have faced four top-100 RPI opponents and one of two teams (SDSU) to have faced a ranked opponent.

The Bruins
Bellevue (6-5) is in just its second season of women's basketball, but the Bruins wasted no time by finishing above .500 with a 16-15 overall record in the program's inaugural season. All five of Bellevue's losses this season have come by 10 or fewer points, most recently a 60-58 loss to nearby Briar Cliff prior to Thanksgiving weekend. The Bruins are paced by redshirt-freshman forward Elexis Martinez with 13 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. Senior guard Ryleigh McCartney also averages double figures with 10.3 points per game.

The Series
This marks the first meeting between the two programs. The Bellevue athletics department added women's basketball as the school's fifth intercollegiate sport ahead of the 2016-17 season.

One Last Thing
USD first-year assistant coach Jason Jeschke previously spent five seasons under Bellevue's head coach Dave Denly. Denly held the top spot at Southwestern College (Kan.), Jeschke's alma mater, for 17 years before starting the Bellevue program from scratch two seasons ago. Jeschke left Southwestern for the head gig at Oklahoma Wesleyan.