The Game

South Dakota women's basketball resumes Summit League action by hosting Oral Roberts for a game at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota.
 
A live stream of the game will be available on the Summit League Network available via the Midco Sports Plus app. A radio broadcast from the Coyote Sports Network with Jerry Palleschi will be available on KVTK 101.5.

The Coyotes

South Dakota (12-5, 1-1 Summit) is coming off a 73-47 win over Idaho State Saturday in which leading scorer Grace Larkins recorded her third double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 boards. Center Natalie Mazurek added 12 points and a career-high eight rebounds in the game. She's 10-of-16 from the floor in her last three games.
 
Larkins, the Summit League December Peak Performer of the Month, is one of four players nationally averaging 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game. As a squad, the Coyotes continue to lead the Summit in field goal percentage (.453) and 3-point percentage (.353). USD's successful shooting comes from sharing the ball with the Coyotes also leading the league in assists per game (17.6).
 

The Golden Eagles

Oral Roberts (11-4, 2-0 Summit) is riding a five-game winning streak that started with a buzzer-beating win at Wichita State in December. The Golden Eagles swept their opening Summit weekend against Denver and Kansas City to start league play atop the Summit League standings.
 
First-team all-Summit guard Hannah Cooper is back with an all new cast of characters this season. Cooper averaged 20 points per game a year ago, but doesn't need to carry that load this year. Oral Roberts has five players averaging double figures to put up a league-best 80 points per game. The Golden Eagles' scoring offense ranks 21st nationally. Turnovers are the other key. Oral Roberts successfully speeds up its foes to force mistakes. ORU ranks 19th nationally in turnover margin.
 

The Series

South Dakota had won 19 consecutive games in this series until Oral Roberts broke the streak in last year's Summit League Tournament. The Golden Eagles' last win in Vermillion came in 2011 (0-9 since).
 

Up Next

South Dakota returns to action next Thursday at St. Thomas. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.