Coyotes host Kansas City Thursday

The Game

South Dakota women's basketball hosts Kansas City for a game at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota.

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. A free live stream of the game will be available on GoYotes.com.

The Coyotes

South Dakota (21-5, 14-1) is coming off a 73-46 win at St. Thomas a week ago. 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 15.3 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, who scored 26 on Thursday and is averaging 20 over the last five games, owns season averages of 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She became South Dakota's all-time blocks leader last Thursday night as well. Senior guard Liv Korngable is averaging 12.9 points and a team-high 3.7 assists per game. She enters Thursday just six points shy of 1,000 for her career. Freshman guard Grace Larkins has tallied back-to-back career-high 15-point games against Denver and St. Thomas.

The Roos

Kansas City (22-5, 12-4) comes to Vermillion on a nine-game winning streak that has lifted them to third in the Summit League standings. Due to COVID-19 postponements and rescheduling, seven of those nine wins came on their home court. The Roos have gotten comfortable down the stretch, with half of those wins coming as fourth-quarter comebacks and two overtime wins over Omaha and Western Illinois. Naomie Alnatas, a preseason Summit League first-team pick, averages 19.1 points per game to lead the Roos as the Summit's second-leading scorer. Brooklyn McDavid, a transfer from Pacific, averages 15.8 points and 6.6 rebounds to join her in double-figures.

The Series

South Dakota took a 5-4 lead in the series earlier this season at Kansas City. The Coyotes defeated the Roos 67-57 back on Dec. 22. Outside of South Dakota State, the Roos' 10-point loss has been USD's closest regular season conference game.

One Last Thing

Lamb received recognition on Thursday for her performance both on the court and in the classroom, being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.