The Game
It's the battle of the first place foes inside Frost Arena. Saturday's winner will move a game ahead of all Summit contenders, while Saturday's loser could potentially find itself in a 3-way tie for second place with Western Illinois and IUPUI.
The Series
The Coyotes snapped a 26-year dry spell inside Frost Arena last season. The overall series dates back to USD's first year of women's basketball in 1971-72, but the Jackrabbits hold a 9-6 edge since the two teams met in the Summit League. This season, the Coyotes snuck away with a 65-62 win in Vermillion on New Year's Eve.
The Coyotes
South Dakota is led by a trio of guards in
Allison Arens,
Jaycee Bradley and
Ciara Duffy. The trio make up 60 percent of the team's scoring. Arens tops the Summit at 19.5 points per game (22nd in the nation) while shooting at a 51.6 percent clip. She's also the team's leading rebounder at 5.3 and runs the offense at 4.0 assists per game. Bradley's the Coyotes' top 3-point shooter at averaging just under three from deep per game. Bradley's 13.9 points per game ranks 10th in the Summit. Another spark from long range for the Coyotes is Duffy, who's the third-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game. She has a pair of games with six 3-pointers and led the Coyotes with 14 points in Wednesday's defensive win at Denver. A big difference in the last game against the Jacks was the free throw differential. South Dakota leads the nation in free-throw shooting at 81.2 percent. They have shot above 70 percent in 22 of 23 games and rank 18th nationally in free throws made this season.
The Jackrabbits
South Dakota State has its own trio to watch in Madison Guebert, Kerri Young and Ellie Thompson who are each averaging above 15 points per game in Summit play. A difference-maker for the Jacks this time around is that 2015-16 Summit Defensive Player of the Year Clarissa Ober has returned from injury. She had nine blocks in a single game against the Yotes a year ago. Ober adds another piece to a tough South Dakota State defense, which leads the Summit in field-goal defense and ranks second in points allowed.
The Showdown Series
USD leads this year's South Dakota Corn Showdown Series 5-4, a head-to-head rivalry series with South Dakota State in 17 varsity sports. The Coyotes have wins in volleyball, soccer, women's cross country and women's basketball this year. The Jackrabbits have wins in football, men's cross country and men's basketball.
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 8-2 while IUPUI and Western Illinois are both one game back at 7-3. Oral Roberts and Omaha are tied for fifth at 4-6.
