The Game
South Dakota visits Omaha for a game at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.
Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel, carried on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app. A live stream of the game is available on OMavs.com.
The Coyotes
South Dakota (13-4, 6-0) owns the nation's fourth-longest winning streak at 11 games. The Coyotes jumped out to a 45-5 start Thursday night at Denver with an impressive opening 15 minutes of basketball. Four Coyotes reached double figures with
Chloe Lamb,
Hannah Sjerven and
Maddie Krull all scoring 14 points.
Grace Larkins chipped in 12. Lamb, Sjerven and
Liv Korngable all average double-figures to pace the Coyote offense. South Dakota's defense is holding Summit opponents to a league-best 48 points per game.
The Mavericks
Omaha (6-10, 2-5) is playing its third-straight home game of the week, dropping contests to Kansas City (Mon.) and South Dakota State (Thurs.) earlier in the week. The Mavericks are led by center Elena Pilakouta's 11.6 points per game at a 54 percent clip. Mariah Murdie also averages double-digits at 11.1 points per game. Murdie ranks in the Summit's top-10 for rebounds (7.2) and blocks (1.4) per game. Freshman Grace Cave has come on strong in league play, averaging 10.3 points per game through seven contests. Omaha's defense is fourth in league play behind the two South Dakota schools and St. Thomas. The Mavericks have forced the second-most turnovers this season behind only the Coyotes.
The Series
South Dakota leads the all-time series 50-35, including 18 of 20 meetings at the NCAA Division I level. Coach
Dawn Plitzuweit's 100th win at USD was the last time these teams met in the regular season (Jan. 29, 2020). COVID-19 canceled the regular season series last year, but Omaha's Cinderella run to the Summit League Tournament title game as a No. 8 seed did give Coyotes a look at the Mavericks under first-year head coach Carrie Banks. USD won 66-43 to punch their ticket back to the NCAA Tournament.
One Last Thing
USD career charts were moving and shaking on Thursday night. Lamb moved to sixth for career points and third for career 3-pointers made. Sjerven moved to sixth for rebounds.
