The Game
South Dakota travels to Western Illinois for a pair of games at 4:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday inside Western Hall in Macomb, Illinois. A free live stream of the game will be available on GoLeathernecks.com. Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using the TuneIn app.
 
The Coyotes
The story of South Dakota (8-3, 4-0 Summit) this season continues to be the performance of its senior class. The trio of Hannah Sjerven, Chloe Lamb and Liv Korngable rank 2-3-4, respectively, in the Summit League for scoring this season. South Dakota is the only school in the nation with three scorers ranking in its league's top-five. Sjerven is one of 35 players nationally averaging a double-double with 17.6 points and 10.0 boards per game. Lamb, averaging 17.3 for the season, leads the Summit in league play with more than 20 per game while shooting 60.4 percent from the floor. Korngable made 11 consecutive field goals without a miss during the Kansas City series – one shy of tying USD's school record from 1982. She's averaging 15.8 points and a league-best four assists per game. Behind the trio, the Coyotes have been looking for a fourth scorer. Freshman point guard Maddie Krull is coming off a career-high 15 points in game two at Kansas City, while sophomore Alexi Hempe tallied her first double-digit game of 10 points in the first game.
 
The Leathernecks
Western Illinois (3-11, 2-4 Summit) is coming off a split with Kansas City last weekend, winning game two 82-76 in Macomb. Evan Zars earned Summit League Player of the Week honors for her performance in the series. She posted back-to-back double-doubles for the weekend. Zars, the 2020 Summit Newcomer of the Year, provides an inside presence for a Western squad that continues to love the 3. The Leathernecks have attempted the sixth-most 3s in the nation this year and made 97-of-342. Six players have attempted 25 or more triples this season. Western is also capable of getting to the line, ranking seventh nationally for free-throws attempted. Grace Gilmore leads the charge with 74-of-102 attempts from the stripe. She ranks fourth nationally for attempts and seventh for makes.
 
The Series
South Dakota leads the series 16-3 and holds an 8-1 advantage in Macomb. The Coyotes have won six-straight meetings in the series, dating back to Western Illinois' 2017 Summit title.
 
One Last Thing
Hannah Sjerven needs 15 points to score 1,000 at South Dakota. She would become the Coyotes' 29th 1,000-point scorer and 17th with 1,000 points and 500 boards.