The Game

Two teams under the direction of new generals meet in a Sunday matinee as Bradley hosts South Dakota at 2 p.m. from Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria, Illinois. South Dakota is making its first road trip under Kayla Karius, a former assistant coach for the Coyotes, who has returned for the head gig. She squares off against Kate Popovec-Goss' new squad. Popovec-Goss played and coached at Northwestern before accepting the Bradley position back in April. She gets to compete in front of the home crowd for the first time.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota has dominated an overmatched Midland squad and lost to a nationally-ranked Creighton team to begin the season. The Coyotes made a program-record 19 three-pointers on just 27 attempts Monday before going 2-for-17 from beyond the arc Thursday against Creighton.
 
South Dakota is debuting a new starting five one season after making its first run to the NCAA Sweet 16. Grace Larkins, the reigning Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year, is one of those new starters and has scored 18 and 20 points to begin her sophomore campaign. Alexi Hempe has recovered from a knee injury and has made 9-of-15 shots and averaged 13 points in two games. USD has combination of returners, transfers, redshirt freshmen and a true freshman all competing for minutes.
 

The Braves

Bradley made its first NCAA tournament appearance two years ago when they won the Missouri Valley Tournament as a No. 5 seed. They started 3-0 last season including a win over Wisconsin, but managed just one victory the rest of the way.
 
Popovec-Goss' roster includes six newcomers including four transfers and six returners, though Caroline Waite is the lone returner who averaged more than 15 minutes per game a year ago. One of the newcomers, Alex Rouse from Old Dominion, tied for the team-lead with nine points in the Braves' season-opener at Missouri. But Bradley committed 24 turnovers against its SEC foe and lost 83-38.
 

The Series

This is the third consecutive year these two teams have met. South Dakota won last year's contest 62-39 in Vermillion and won the initial meeting in Peoria 84-68 two seasons ago.
 

One Last Thing

Kayla Karius' husband, Rick Karius, served as the director of basketball operations at Bradley during the 2015-16 season. He was hired in the same capacity at South Dakota the year after and served two seasons in Vermillion under Craig Smith.