South Dakota travels to South Dakota State for a game at 1 p.m. Sunday inside Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D.

The Game
With both South Dakota and South Dakota State guaranteed a top-two seed at the upcoming Summit League Tournament, the winner of Sunday's game takes the advantage in the regular season title race headed into the final week. Both the Yotes and the Jacks carry an 11-game win streak into the matchup, which is tied for 10th in the NCAA. In addition to seeding and regular season title implications, the winning team takes home a point for their institution in the yearlong South Dakota Showdown Series sponsored by South Dakota Corn.

The Coyotes
No. 23/23 South Dakota (24-3, 12-1 Summit) is in the midst of a historical season, ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches polls for the second-straight week. The Coyotes have gotten to this point with tough defense, holding foes to 57.9 points per game for tops in the Summit League. South Dakota's held opponents under 60 points a total of 16 times this season, including a five-game streak in league play with foes scoring 50 or fewer. It was the first time that feat had been accomplished at USD since 1973. Defense has been a focus of USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, who tied Ryun Williams for the fourth-most wins at South Dakota on Thursday.

Flip to the frontcourt and it's junior guard Ciara Duffy pacing the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game. She scored a career high 28 points in the first meeting with the Jackrabbits this season. Senior guard Allison Arens and sophomore center Hannah Sjerven join her in double figures with 11 points per game each. Arens cracked USD's top-10 career scoring charts in Thursdays win over Denver.

The Jackrabbits
South Dakota State (21-6, 13-1 Summit) holds a half-game advantage on the Coyotes in the standings. The Jackrabbits are the 17th-highest scoring team in the nation led by Summit League Preseason Player of the Year Macy Miller's 16.8 points a game. She's balanced out by 3-point shooter senior Madison Guebert, who's younger sister Macy has signed to play for the Yotes next fall, at 13.7 points per game. Inside, sophomore forward Myah Selland leads the Jacks with 12.7 points. South Dakota State's offense focuses on sharing the ball with the Jacks ranking seventh in the nation for assists. SDSU's 11-game win streak which dates back to its loss against USD is the longest for the program since 2008-09.

The Series
Welcome to the 87th meeting between these in-state rivals! This season's round one was a double-overtime thriller with the Coyotes prevailing 105-98 in front of a sold-out Sanford Coyote Sports Center. It was the first double-overtime between the two teams since 1991. Also, it marked the first time three Coyotes surpassed 20 points (Ciara Duffy 28, Hannah Sjerven 23, Allison Arens 20) in program history. South Dakota State holds the 56-30 advantage in the all-time series over South Dakota.

The Top of the Class
South Dakota senior guard Allison Arens and junior guard Ciara Duffy were two of 41 NCAA Division I women's basketball players voted to CoSIDA Academic All-District earlier this week. South Dakota was one of four schools with two players to earn the recognition. Both earn the honor for the second time of their career, with Duffy becoming USD's first Division I Academic All-American last season.

One Last Thing
Frost Arena is one of the toughest places to visit inside the Summit League. South Dakota State has just three Summit losses inside Frost in the last eight seasons, with two of those going to the Coyotes (2016, 2018).