The Game

South Dakota women's basketball hosts Midland in the season opener at 7 p.m. Monday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. A free web stream will be available right here on GoYotes.com. Fans can also listen to the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel, carried on KVTK 101.5 FM/1570 AM in Yankton/Vermillion. The radio broadcast will also be available for free on The Varsity Network app.
 

The Coyotes

Welcome to the Kayla Karius Era! Karius (CAR-ee-us) was named head coach back in April. She returns to Vermillion after spending two seasons as an assistant for Dawn Plitzuweit from 2016-18. Karius served three seasons at Wisconsin and one at Drake before accepting USD's head gig. She inherits a program that went 29-6 last year and advanced to the Sweet 16. But all five starters from that squad have moved on, opening the way for new roles for returning players and newcomers alike.
 
Karius has hinted at a number of players shuffling through the rotation early, but certainly one expected to play a key role is Grace Larkins, a sophomore point guard from Altoona, Iowa, and last year's Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year. Larkins played all 35 games last year and was the team's fifth-leading scorer. She shot 43 percent from the field and averaged 17 minutes a game.
 
Other significant contributors to last year's team back this year include Macy Guebert, Natalie Mazurek and Jeniah Ugofsky. All three averaged close to double-digit minutes a year ago. Allison Peplowski is a captain, but won't play this season due to injury. Mazurek is also working her way back to the court. Alexi Hempe missed last season, but shined in last week's exhibition game.
 

The Warriors

Midland, a NAIA program, resides two hours away in Fremont, Nebraska. The Warriors are coming off an 8-21 campaign and have already split four games this season. Senior post Erin Prusa has led the Warriors in scoring in all four games, averaging 15 points in that span. Midland averaged eight three-pointers on 28 attempts last season.
 
Head coach Shawn Gilbert is entering his 10^th season at the helm for the Warriors and has tallied a 112-154 overall record. In 2018-19, the Warriors posted a 15-14 overall campaign, the first winning season under Gilbert and the program's first since the 2003-04 season (16-13).
 

The Series

This marks just the second time the programs have met with the first coming in December of 2020 in Vermillion. The Coyotes took round one 89-39 behind Hannah Sjerven's 14 points. All 14 Coyotes who dressed played and all but three found the scoring column. Morgan Hansen led USD's bench with nine points and Jeniah Ugofsky grabbed seven rebounds.  
 
The Warriors were led by Lexis Haase with 10 points and two triples. Makenna Sullivan added seven and Peyton Wingert had five points. The Warriors were limited to 22 percent shooting and committed 20 turnovers.
 

One Last Thing

South Dakota enters the season with a 13-game home winning streak, the ninth-longest active streak in the country. The Coyotes are No. 23 in the preseason Mid Major Top 25 after finishing on top of the poll last year and with a No. 24 ranking in the final Coaches Poll. No. 21 Creighton will visit the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip.