South Dakota hosts St. Thomas at 1 p.m. Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. It is a rematch of a 58-56 South Dakota victory in Minnesota back on Dec. 28. The Tommies rallied for 14 points down in the fourth quarter, but USD forward Morgan Hansen made three free throws with 3.2 seconds left for the win.
 
It is just the fourth meeting between the two teams and the second matchup in Vermillion. The Coyotes (11-10, 7-3 Summit) are going for their fourth consecutive win, which would be their longest streak of the season. St. Thomas (7-13, 2-8) has won two of four following a 0-6 start inside the Summit League.
 
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 KVHT 106.3 FM in Vermillion/Yankton. A link to that broadcast is here.
 
The Coyotes
Solid defense and the emergence of redshirt freshman Carley Duffney has carried South Dakota to these last three wins. Opposing teams have averaged just 56 points while committing 15 turnovers on average during this streak. St. Thomas has averaged 63 points and 17 turnovers in Summit play.
 
Duffney and Grace Larkins have scored 59 points apiece since Duffney entered the starting lineup three games ago. Duffney has made 20-of-32 shots in that span while Larkins piles on the assists. Larkins now leads the Summit in assists, is second in steals, third in points and fourth in rebounds. She had 18 points, 12 rebounds (career-high) and eight assists in Thursday's win against Western Illinois.
 
The Tommies
It has been a season of near misses so far for St. Thomas, who is in its second year inside the Summit League. The Tommies have three overtime losses and two other defeats by two points. South Dakota State roughed them up Thursday in Brookings 99-57. Jade Hill had 17 points, but the Tommies' typically reliable defense was torched by the Jacks who shot 65 percent from the field.

Senior Maggie Negaard started her career at Drake and is truly coming into her own in her second season at St. Thomas. She is averaging 15 points in conference play and has had a string of solid performances of late. Negaard had 28 points (6-8 3FG) and nine rebounds against Western Illinois last weekend. Two games prior, she had 24 points (5-13 3FG) against Kansas City. Hill and Jo Langbehm both average near 10 points per game.
 
Welcome back, Madison!
South Dakota alumna Madison McKeever serves as the director of basketball operations for St. Thomas. McKeever started 100 games and played in 133 at USD from 2016-20. She totaled 1,094 points, made 150 three-pointers and handed out 275 assists with 225 steals. South Dakota was 30-2 her senior year. The Coyotes were 16-0 in Summit play and won the Summit League Tournament before the NCAA canceled the NCAA tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.