South Dakota hosts defending Summit League champion Western Illinois for a showdown at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

The Promotions
There's plenty going on for fans at the Coyote women's basketball games this week. Thursday's itinerary includes Coach P's Pack Night, PAVE Night, 90's Night and Take a Kid to the Game. Members of Coach P's Pack will enjoy a pre-game pizza party and will welcome the players onto the floor for starting lineups. South Dakota athletics is teaming up with PAVE (Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment) for sexual assault awareness night on Thursday. The first 200 students through the door will get a free teal PAVE T-shirt and all students will get free wings at halftime of the game. This Thursday, the Coyotes are throwing it back to the 90's. Music from the decade will be played, while 90's themed trivia and games will be played throughout the game. Finally, at every Thursday game this year a $1 youth ticket is available for every adult ticket purchased.

The Game
The league's top defense in South Dakota looks to hold off the league's best offense in Western Illinois to defend its home court on Thursday. Western Illinois was the only blemish on the Coyotes' 13-1 home record a season ago and one of just six home losses for the Coyotes since USD joined the Summit League in 2011-12.

The Coyotes
South Dakota (17-5, 8-0 Summit) is riding an 11-game winning streak to a perfect start in conference play. The streak, which ranks seventh nationally, includes five Summit road games. The Coyotes boast the league's best defense by holding opponents to 58.7 points per game while forcing 18.45 turnovers per contest. The guard quartet of sophomore Ciara Duffy (15.6 ppg), junior Allison Arens (14.3), junior Jaycee Bradley (12.6) and senior Jasmine Trimboli (10.3) have paced USD in conference play. Overall, South Dakota's roster features a well-balanced offense with nine different players who have led the team in scoring this season. Last Saturday at Denver it was Arens and Bradley who shared the top spot with 17 points a piece. South Dakota also ranks 20th nationally for field-goal percentage at 46.5 from the floor.

The Leathernecks
The defending Summit League champions sit in third place just past the halfway mark of league play. Western Illinois (16-6, 6-2 Summit) has topped every league opponent not residing in the state of South Dakota by an average of 30 points this season. The Leathernecks average a league-best 82.7 points per game which ranks 14th nationally. Western Illinois also ranks third in the nation for 3-pointers made with 11 per game and ninth nationally for free-throws made (335). Reigning Summit Player of the Year Emily Clemens leads the team with 17.4 points, 7.8 assists (fourth nationally) and 3.4 steals (ninth nationally) per game. Leatherneck teammates Taylor Higginbotham and Morgan Blumer pitch in 16.7 points and 14.5 points per game, which ranks third and fifth in the Summit League, respectively.

The Series
South Dakota leads the overall series 11-3 with two of Western Illinois' victories coming a season ago as the Leathernecks won the regular season Summit League title. It was the Coyotes who came out victorious earlier this season in Macomb. South Dakota used a 22-3 run at the start of the third quarter to come away with an 82-58 road win. Five Coyotes scored in double figures, South Dakota drained a season-best 15 3s and at the time it was Western's lowest-scoring game of the year.

One Last Thing
South Dakota plays five of its final seven regular season games at home. The Coyotes are 45-6 all-time against league opponents on their home court.