South Dakota wraps up nonconference action with former and future conference rival, North Dakota, at 5 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, S.D.

The Promotions
Santa returns to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center for the second time this season. Children are invited to join Santa to chat and have their photo taken on the concourse.

It's also Throwback Thursday to the 80s. The game will feature music from the 1980s, 80s themed trivia and other contests. Fans dressed in 80s gear will be featured on the video board during the game.

The Game
It's a rematch of the Women's National Invitation Tournament first round game a season ago. The Coyotes came out on top, 78-55, as Allison Arens paced the Coyotes with 24 points on 11-of-13 field goals. South Dakota made 34-of-61 (55.7 percent) from the field and 7-of-14 (50 percent) from outside the arc, while capitalizing with 27 points on 20 UND turnovers.

The Coyotes
South Dakota will look to replicate last season's game against the Fighting Hawks inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Defensively, the Coyotes are holding opponents to 61 points per game and are second in the Summit with 17 turnovers forced per game. Arens leads the Coyotes in scoring at 12 points a game, senior guard Jasmine Trimboli leads the Coyotes on the glass with 62 rebounds (5.6 rpg) and sophomore guard Madison McKeever ranks second in the league with 32 steals. The Coyotes are coming off a 75-66 victory over UC Riverside where they scored 30 points off 22 Highlander turnovers.

The Fighting Hawks
North Dakota is the defending co-Big Sky regular season champions (20-11). The Fighting Hawks have won seven of their last eight games with the only loss in that span at No. 8 Baylor. UND is led by all-Big Sky senior forward Lexi Klabo who is averaging nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Honorable mention forward Fallyn Freije adds 14 points and eight boards a game. North Dakota's other Summit matchups this season include a 66-52 loss at South Dakota State back in November and a 79-68 victory over North Dakota State on Dec. 9.

The Series
These former NCC and Great West foes meet for just the 11th time as nonconference rivals with the Coyotes leading 6-4 in nonconference matchups. Although North Dakota leads the series 49-25, South Dakota has won four of the last five meetings. The Fighting Hawks are set to join the Summit League next season.

One Last Thing
Junior guard Allison Arens set her third school record on Tuesday night. She already owns USD program records for free throws made (18) and free throws attempted (20) in a single game, but now she has also tied Mandy Koupal for free-throw percentage in a game. Arens drained 12-for-12 from the charity stripe against UC Riverside to become the seventh player since 2000 to finish perfect at the line when shooting at least 10 free throws. Arens is also currently tied with Nicole Seekamp for USD's school record for career free throw percentage (.858), although her percentage fluctuates with each trip to the line.