The Game

South Dakota hosts North Dakota for a Summit League contest at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, S.D.
 
A free live stream of the game will be available on GoYotes.com. Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel on the call, with the radio broadcast carried on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota (9-4, 2-0) looks to extend its seven-game winning streak headed into the new year. The Coyotes have outscored foes by 16 points a game during the month of December, highlighted by a defense holding teams to 52. USD has been hot shooting in the last three games, averaging 51 percent from the floor in its three-game road trip to Creighton, Oral Roberts and Kansas City. Chloe Lamb, Liv Korngable, Kyah Watson and Hannah Sjerven are averaging double-digits so far in Summit play. Lamb set the program record for career games played (140) last time out in Kansas City.
 

The Fighting Hawks

North Dakota (6-6, 0-1) dropped its league opener to in-state rival North Dakota State 67-61 before the break. The Fighting Hawks' Kacie Borowicz dropped a game-high 25 points. The 5-foot-7 guard ranks third in the Summit for scoring at 17.2 points per game. After averaging 7.2 points a game off the bench as a true freshman, Borowicz played in just nine games of the pandemic-laden 2020-21 season. She's joined in double-figures by forward Olivia Lane (12.5) and guard Claire Orth (11.7). Lane finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards against the Bison. The Fighting Hawks are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country this season, ranking seventh nationally at 78.9 percent.
 

The Series

North Dakota leads the all-time series 49-33, although the Coyotes have won 11 in a row to close the gap. The rivalry between the flagship Dakota institutions spans six decades and three different conferences (NCC, Great West, Summit). North Dakota was a dominant program in NCAA Division II, both teams duked it out in the transition years, and South Dakota has won all seven meetings as Summit League foes.
 

One Last Thing

The Coyotes tallied 25 steals in the first two Summit games, the most of any league team. Seven different Coyotes swiped at least two steals, led by Kyah Watson's league-best six takeaways. USD's seven players with a pair of steals in Summit play is four more players than any other league school.
 

The Program