The Game

South Dakota women's basketball travels to Wyoming for the Women's National Invitation Tournament Super 16 at 7:30 p.m. Central Friday inside Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
 
The game will be live streamed for free on the Mountain West Network. Fans can also tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with John Thayer on KVHT 106.3 in Yankton/Vermillion or by using the Varsity Network app.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota (23-12) is coming off a second-round 79-65 win over Northern Arizona, turning a 10-point deficit into a 14-point victory. Four Coyotes scored in double-figures for the second-straight game while junior guard Grace Larkins scored a career high 34 points to go with 12 rebounds. Fifth-year junior Alexi Hempe tied her season high of 13 points, senior Nicole Avila-Ambrosi scored 12 points and third-year sophomore Carley Duffney had 11 points.
 
The Coyotes finished fourth in the Summit League standings in head coach Kayla Karius' second season at the helm. Larkins, a two-time all-Summit League first team selection, leads the Coyotes in scoring, rebounding and assists. She's averaging 16.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. South Dakota makes its sixth Women's National Invitation Tournament appearance, reaching the WNIT's Super 16 for the third time.
 

The Cowgirls

Wyoming (17-14) is coming off an 80-64 win over UTSA in the second round of the WNIT. Malene Pedersen tied a career high 24 points in the win. Off the bench, McKinley Dickerson scored 16 points and surpassed 1,000 career points in the game. She joins Allyson Fertig as one of two active 1,000-point scorers on the team.

The Cowgirls finished third in the Mountain West in head coach Heather Ezell's second season. Ezell's staff includes associate head coach Ryan Larsen, who was an assistant at South Dakota from 2008-13. Fertig was named to the all-Mountain West team for the second time of her career in the postseason awards. Emily Mellema was selected to the Mountain West all-defensive team.
 

The Series

The Coyotes and the Cowgirls have played five times in program history with the home team winning each meeting in the series. USD's last trip to Laramie came in the 2016-17 season with the Coyotes falling 69-62 in overtime. USD head coach Kayla Karius was on the bench as an assistant that season.
 

Up Next

The winner of Friday's game plays the winner of Minnesota/North Dakota State in the WNIT Great 8 with the site and date to be determined.