The Game

South Dakota women's basketball hosts Western Illinois for a game at 7 p.m. Thursday evening inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion.
 
The game will be televised by Midco Sports with commentary from Jay Elsen and Brad Newitt. That broadcast will also be available for streaming on espn+ and Midco Sports Plus (subscription required). A free web stream will also be available right here on GoYotes.com. 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.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota (14-4, 7-0) is receiving votes in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the preseason. To get there, the Coyotes have won 12-straight games for the nation's second-longest winning streak. Senior guard Chloe Lamb continues to lead the squad with 15.6 points per game. Hannah Sjerven averages 13.7 points to go with a team-high 7.1 boards and a league-leading 1.9 blocks per game. Liv Korngable joins them in double-figures with 12.1 points and a team-best 3.5 assists per contest. South Dakota's defense ranks 12th in the nation, allowing just 53.1 points per game overall this season. In the last five games the Coyote defense has given up just 44 points per contest. A statistic to watch is points-off turnovers, where the Coyotes scored 65 points off 43 opponent turnovers in two games last week.
 

The Leathernecks

Western Illinois (11-5, 2-3) leads the Summit League in scoring offense with 77.3 points per game. That number ranks 21st in the nation. The Leathernecks also rank 16th nationally in 3-pointers made per game (9.0/game) and 26th in free-throws made (230). Danni Nichols is leading the charge with 17.9 points per game while shooting at a 54.5 percent clip. She also accounts for nearly a third of WIU's trips to the charity stripe, ranking 16th in the nation for free-throws made. Evan Zars leads the league on the boards, pulling down 8.9 boards a contest to go with her 11.6 points per game. Jada Thorpe (12.8) and Elizabeth Lutz (10.6) join them in double-figures.
 

The Series

South Dakota leads the all-time series 18-3 with eight-straight against the Leathernecks. The Coyotes went to Macomb last season for the series, with USD earning 73-56 and 61-56 road wins on back-to-back nights.
 

One Last Thing

South Dakota's Chloe Lamb and Western Illinois' Danni Nichols were the two Summit League players named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year midseason watch list on Wednesday. The duo will go head-to-head with their squads on Thursday night for the first time this season.

The Program