The Game

South Dakota women's basketball takes on No. 23/22 Oregon in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at 9 p.m. Monday inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game will be televised nationally by espn2 with commentary from Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck. Fans can also tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion, KWSN 98.1 in Sioux Falls or by using the TuneIn app.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota (19-5) earned its third-straight NCAA Tournament berth and fourth overall in Division I. The Coyotes convincingly captured back-to-back Summit Tournament titles with three-straight 20-point victories, including a 66-43 title game win over Omaha for the largest margin of victory in a Summit Championship game. USD's led by the trio of Hannah Sjerven, Chloe Lamb and Liv Korngable accounting for 63.7 percent of the team's scoring. All three made the all-tournament team with Lamb taking home MVP honors. Freshman Maddie Krull has turned it on towards the end of the season, averaging 12.3 points in the last 10 games. South Dakota's lock-down defense has kept opponents under 60 points for 14 of 24 games this season, but the Coyotes will face an explosive Oregon offense (73.1 ppg) that has put up the second-most points in the Pac-12 this year.
 

The Ducks

No. 23/22 Oregon (13-8) is making its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Kelly Graves, although this is the first in that run without star Sabrina Ionescu (No. 1 pick of the 2020 WNBA draft). The Ducks are led by all-Pac 12 forward Nyara Sabally's 12.6 points and 7.3 boards per game. This is her first season getting onto the court at Oregon as she's missed the past two seasons to injury, also missing the chance to star on the court with older sister and WNBA player Satou Sabally. Joining Sabally in double-figures is forward Erin Boley with 10.3 points per game, while both guard Taylor Mikesell and 6-foot-7 center Sedona Prince add nine points apiece. The Ducks will likely be without all-Pac 12 point guard Te-Hina Paopao who missed the last two games of the season with a foot injury. The Ducks have the 10th-best NET ranking in the country this season in spite of their eight losses. Those losses have come to just four teams – No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 UCLA, No. 15 Arizona and receiving votes Oregon State.
 

The Series

The only meeting between these two programs was in the semifinals of the 2016 Women's National Invitation Tournament. South Dakota topped Oregon 88-54 en route to winning it all. USD knocked down 15-of-21 from 3 in the game, including this No. 1 SportsCenter half-court heave, in front of more than 5,000 fans.
 

One Last Thing

The squad's motto in the San Antonio bubble? Feelin' the vibe of the 605!