South Dakota gets a second crack at Western Illinois Thursday as teams begin the second half of the Summit League's 18-game schedule. The Coyotes and Leathernecks tip off at 7 p.m. inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in a game televised by Midco Sports 2.
 
It is a rematch of a 76-67 Western Illinois win on the final day of 2022. The Leathernecks forced 19 turnovers while committing nine and took 17 more shots than the Coyotes that day. It was Western Illinois' first win in the series in 12 games.
 
How to Watch
A free stream can be found on GoYotes.com/watch. The Midco Sports 2 broadcast can be found on ESPN+ and the Midco Sports Plus app, both of which require a subscription.
 
How to Listen
Carter Woodiel from the Coyote Sports Network is providing a radio broadcast for KVTK 101.5 FM and 1570 AM in Vermillion/Yankton. A link to that broadcast is here.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota is playing at home for the first time in nearly three weeks. The Coyotes are coming off back-to-back wins at Omaha and Denver and will play five of their next seven at home.
 
The Coyotes are expected to compete with eight healthy players, which has grown customary of late. Redshirt freshman Carley Duffney has stepped up in recent games. The 5-foot-10 forward had a season-high 22 points at Omaha Saturday, 17 at Denver Monday and is averaging 15 points over her last five games.
 
Duffney's contributions have taken some of the pressure off sophomore guard Grace Larkins, who leads the Coyotes in nearly every category. Larkins is bidding to become the first Summit League player to rank in the top five for points, rebounds, assists and steals. She was one assist shy of a triple-double last time out.
 
The Leathernecks
Junior guard Anna Deets scored a game-high 23 points in the Leathernecks' win against USD and she is playing fantastic basketball right now. Deets has averaged 26 points over her last three games and 16 points in Summit League play. In that three-game span, Deets has made 29-of-31 free throws and nine 3-pointers.
 
No one takes more 3-pointers in the Summit than Western Illinois, but the team is shooting them at a Summit-low 27 percent. Making 3's, getting to the free-throw line and forcing turnovers remain the keys to victory for WIU.
 
Jada Thorpe, the Kansas State transfer in her second year in Macomb, is Western's second-leading scorer. Post player Alissa Dins averages 7.1 boards and has 22 blocks. Addi Brownfield is a freshman guard averaging 16 points in her last three games.
 
The Standings
South Dakota sits in third place at 6-3 in the Summit standings, one game ahead of 5-4 Oral Roberts and one game back of 7-2 North Dakota State. Western Illinois is tied for seventh place at 3-6.