BOZEMAN, Mont. – Having nearly a week between games, the Coyotes are back in action for the first time in the month of December Wednesday when they take on Montana State in Bozeman, Montana.
 
Last week, the Coyotes battled Dayton and Arizona State in Nashville, Tennessee as a part of the Music City Classic. Grace Larkins was named to the all-tournament team for her performance in the two games. Her performance also earned her Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors.
 
The Coyotes are back in action for the first time since Nashville and will face two Big Sky opponents this week as a part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The first of which is Montana State Wednesday, followed by Northern Arizona in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Saturday morning.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
The game is available to watch on ESPN+ with a subscription. You can also listen to the game on KVTK 1570 AM or the Varsity Network with the voice of South Dakota women's basketball Jerry Palleschi. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Central Time (7 p.m. Mountain) from Bozeman.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Coyotes were last in action a week ago in the Music City Classic, splitting a pair of games with Dayton (W, 79-69) and Aruzona State (L, 95-88).
• Against the Flyers, Alexi Hempe scored a career-high 23 points and Carley Duffney tied a career-high with six assists.
• The following day against Arizona State, Grace Larkins scored 30 points and added a career-high 11 assists. Olivia Kieffer added a career-high 16 points.
• Larkins averaged 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.5 assists over two games. Alexi Hempe averaged 22 points and six rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
• The Coyotes will face a new foe again Wednesday, taking on Montana State for the first time.
• The Bobcats played in the UNLV Tournament last week, defeating East Carolina 62-56 and Central Florida 76-68.
• With Idaho last season, Carrie Eighmey and the Vandals split with the Bobcats, losing at home 51-46 and winning in Bozeman 58-53.
 
INSIDE THE MONTANA STATE SERIES
• The Coyotes and Bobcats meet for the 1st time in series history.
• Last season, Carrie Eighmey's Idaho Vandals went 1-1 against Montana State, with both games being decided by exactly five points.
• Montana State went 1-1 in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge last season, defeating North Dakota State at home before falling at South Dakota State.
• South Dakota went 1-1 in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge as well, losing at Montana before defeating Idaho State at home.
 
YOTES VS. THE BIG SKY
• The Coyotes have played 22 games against the Big Sky Conference, including four games last season.
• USD is 16-6 overall against the conference.
• Most recently, the Coyotes took down Northern Arizona 79-65 in the second round of the WNIT last season.
• The Coyotes went 3-1 against the conference last season.
 
BIG SKY-SUMMIT CHALLENGE
• This is the second year of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, a scheduling agreement between the two conferences for men's and women's basketball.
• Each Summit League program and all but four Big Sky programs play two games, one at home and one on the road.
• Due to an uneven number of teams in the conference, four Big Sky programs (Idaho men, Idaho women, Portland State men, Weber State women) will only play one game in the challenge.
• South Dakota faces Montana State and Northern Arizona this season after going 1-1 in last season's challenge.
• Last season's challenge was a tie, with the Summit League winning via tiebreaker.