The Game
South Dakota women's basketball takes on Western Illinois at 6 p.m. Monday inside Western Hall in Macomb, Illinois.
Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with Carter Woodiel, carried on KVHT 106.3 in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app. A live stream of the game will be available on GoLeathernecks.com.
The Coyotes
South Dakota (23-5, 16-1) has the opportunity to clinch a share of the 2022 Summit League regular season title with a win on Monday night. It would mark the first time the Summit's regular season was shared since the 1999 season. The tiebreaker for tournament seeding would be determined by NET ranking on Tuesday morning. The Coyotes are led by a trio of super seniors in
Chloe Lamb,
Hannah Sjerven and
Liv Korngable all averaging double-figure scoring. While last Saturday was all about the Coyote seniors for Senior Day, it was a pair of freshmen that had career highs. Second-year freshman
Kyah Watson scored a career high 18 points on Saturday with three-straight 3-pointers. True freshman
Grace Larkins has moved to fourth on the squad in scoring in Summit play after a career-high 16 points Saturday.
The Leathernecks
Western Illinois (14-13, 5-11) missed two-straight games, including the Coyotes initially scheduled meeting on Feb. 19, due to a COVID pause. The Leathernecks returned to action Saturday at Denver, falling 77-55 to the Pioneers. Western Illinois is led by Danni Nichols, who joined Lamb on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year midseason watch list. Nichols is averaging 15.9 points on 53.2 percent shooting from the floor. The Leathernecks have the league's second-highest scoring offense at 72.4 points per game with starters Elizabeth Lutz, Jada Thorpe and Evan Zars joining Nichols in double-figures. The Leathernecks will honor their fifth starter, senior Sam Pryor, prior to tonight's tip-off.
The Series
South Dakota leads the series 19-3, with nine-straight wins dating back to the Leathernecks' Summit title in 2017. The Coyotes won the first meeting 70-53 in Vermillion last month.
One Last Thing
South Dakota is one of 37 teams with three 1,000-point scorers on the roster. Saturday marked the first time since 2016 that the Coyotes took the floor with three 1,000-point scorers.
