The Game
The tale of two alternative Summit schedules. Tonight begins a daunting road stretch for the Coyotes, who play five of their final seven games Summit League games on the road. The Pioneers, on the other hand, start a four-game home stand tonight and have five games remaining on their home floor.
The Coyotes
With three starters shooting above 50 percent and one right on the cusp, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Coyotes lead the Summit League in shooting percentage across the board. They are tops from the floor at 46.9 percent, from 3-point range at 38.8 percent and from the free-throw line at 80.7 percent. All of those numbers rank in the top-12 nationally. Sophomore guard
Allison Arens continues to lead this team with 20 points, five rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Sophomore
Jaycee Bradley's 14.3 points per game ranks ninth in the Summit and her 65 made 3-pointers ranks 20th in the nation. Another correlation on the Coyotes' hot shooting? When starting freshman guard
Ciara Duffy is knocking down 3-pointers, the Coyotes' ease of winning is a lot simpler. In the three Summit games where she's reached double figures, the average win margin has been 22 points. The other five games, with the exception of Fort Wayne, have been decided by less than 10 points and often come down to free throws at the end of the fourth.
The Pioneers
Denver is coming off its second Summit road win after beating Oral Roberts in Tulsa, 47-45. Freshman guard Lauren Loven has been a proven impact player for the Pioneers, working her way into the starting line-up the last four games. She's leading the team in scoring at 13.0 points per game. In Summit-only statistics, Loven ranks ninth in the league at 16.3 points per game. She's a sharp shooter outside the arc as her 74 made threes ranks eighth nationally. Guards Jacqlyn Poss and Samantha Romanowski add 12.8 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.
The Series
South Dakota leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1988-89, at 8-2. In Denver, the two teams are split at 2-2. The Coyotes took the first meeting this season 70-64 in Vermillion.
Final Note
The Summit League, which finished 16th in the final RPI of 2015-16, currently ranks as the 11th-best conference in the nation. Big wins over Power 5 programs across the board have helped boost the Summit League this season. In the most recent Bracketology, South Dakota had the Summit's automatic berth while South Dakota State was noted as "on the bubble" for making the tournament as an at-large. The race for this year's Summit League title has tightened after a pair of losses by the top two teams on Saturday. The Yotes and the Jacks remain tied at the top at 7-2 while IUPUI and Western Illinois are both one game back at 6-3. Oral Roberts and Omaha are tied for fifth at 4-5.
