South Dakota hosts the College of Saint Mary at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion.

The Game
The Coyotes return home after a tough road loss at top-ranked Drake (CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll) on Thursday. This marks the first of three games over Thanksgiving week for the Coyotes, with USD playing host to Wichita State at the neutral site Sanford Pentagon on Wednesday in Sioux Falls, then traveling to Montana for a game on Saturday. Sunday's game serves as an exhibition for the Flames, who are coming off a conference game with Dordt on Saturday.

The Coyotes
South Dakota (2-1) returns nine letterwinners and a trio of starters in senior guard Allison Arens, junior guard Ciara Duffy and junior guard Madison McKeever. All three were picked to the Preseason All-Summit League teams. This season's additions to the starting lineup include junior forward Taylor Frederick and sophomore guard Chloe Lamb. Frederick earned the Summit League's first player of the week award for the season after posting 26 points in the season opening win at Creighton. Her and redshirt-sophomore Hannah Sjerven, a transfer from New Mexico, have led the Coyotes in scoring for the first three games. The pair both rank in the top-three of the Summit this season for shooting percentage.

The Flames
The College of Saint Mary (1-7, 0-3 GPAC) has turned to veteran coach Kirk Walker to try to turn around a Flames program trying to compete in the ultra-competitive GPAC. Walker is plenty familiar with the Coyotes, having spent the last four seasons on the bench at Summit foe Omaha. Previously, he led Sioux City North High School to a pair of state titles and coached three seasons at Briar Cliff. Senior Corryn Millett, one of 13 upperclassmen on the 14-person roster, has led the team to date, averaging 12.4 points and six rebounds per game.

The Series
South Dakota leads the all-time series with the College of Saint Mary 12-1, with 11 of those wins coming in Vermillion. The Coyotes have won the last nine in a row with the last meeting coming in the 2013-14 season. USD took that game 76-48 inside the DakotaDome.

One Last Thing
Since moving into the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in 2016-17, the Coyote women have compiled a 31-3 record. Combined with the men, Coyote basketball boasts a 59-6 record in the facility.