The Game

South Dakota women's basketball hosts Denver for its annual Pink Game at 1 p.m. Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion.
 
The game will be televised on Midco Sports Two with play-by-play from Jay Elsen and color by Jason Andera. That broadcast will also be available for streaming on espn3 and Midco Sports Plus (subscription required). Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel, carried on KVTK 101.5 FM or 1570 AM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota (19-5, 12-1) is tied atop the Summit League standings with five games remaining. The Big Three, USD's trio of super seniors, lead the Coyotes in scoring for the second-straight season. Senior guard Chloe Lamb is averaging a team-high 15.5 points per game. She's one of 15 players that were named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watch list. Senior center Hannah Sjerven's averaging 13.7 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game. Senior guard Liv Korngable is averaging 13 points and a team-high 3.7 assists per game. Korngable enters Saturday 30 points shy of 1,000 in her career. USD's defense held Omaha to just 35 points on Thursday night. On the season, USD's scoring defense ranks 14th in the nation at 53.9 points per game.
 

The Pioneers

Denver (8-17, 3-11) plays in its road finale on Saturday, finishing off the regular season with three games back at home. The Pioneers are led by Uju Ezeudu's 17.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Ezeudu leads the nation in free-throws made and attempted this season, knocking them down at a 77.8 percent clip from the stripe. As a squad, the Pioneers are fifth in the nation for 3-pointers attempted. Anna Jackson leads the Summit for 3-pointers made (58) and Meghan Boyd is third in the league with 55. The Pioneers are also sixth nationally as a team for blocked shots and 14th for blocks per game (5.4).
 

The Series

South Dakota leads the all-time series 17-3, including all nine meetings in Vermillion. In round one, the Coyotes had near-perfect execution in the opening 15 minutes to jump out to a 45-5 lead over Denver. South Dakota went on to win 79-51 in the Mile High City.
 

One Last Thing

Sjerven scored her 1,000th career point against the Pioneers last year in Vermillion. This Saturday, another Coyote (Korngable) is chasing that same milestone with 30 points to go.
 

The Program