VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota women's basketball is welcoming a familiar foe to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Wednesday night, as the Coyotes host North Dakota at 7 p.m.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
• South Dakota women's basketball against North Dakota will be available to watch on Midco Sports and on the Summit League Network with Jay Elsen and Holly Sivesind.
• Fans can listen to the Coyotes on KVHT 106.3 FM on the Coyote Sports Network with the voice of the Coyotes Jerry Palleschi on the broadcast.
 
PROMOTIONS
• Wednesday is Special Olympics Night, featuring a Unified Basketball scrimmage between two University of South Dakota teams during halftime.
• USD Unified Basketball teams bring together USD students and Special Olympics athletes from Vermillion.
• Both teams competing are Unified Sports teams, meaning they include individuals with and without intellectual disabilities, promoting inclusion, education, and teamwork through sport.
 
KEY STORYLINES
• South Dakota has started conference play 2-1 for the second straight season under head coach Carrie Eighmey.
• South Dakota has passed its win total from last season with the win at St. Thomas, reaching 12 wins.
• The Coyotes switched up the starting lineup at Bradley in the second week of December, moving Division II transfers Molly Joyce and Alex Flattery into the lineup. Joyce started 44 of her 59 games over two seasons at Truman State, while Flattery earned one start in 27 games in her previous stop, a single season at Nebraska-Kearney.
• Elise Turrubiates returned to the lineup Saturday after missing one game, grabbing five rebounds in the win over St. Thomas.
• In USD's 12 wins so far this season, they've won by 20+ points nine times, meanwhile USD's first loss by double digits came Thursday to Oral Roberts.
• The Coyotes have distributed the wealth on the scoring front this season, with 12 of their 14 players who have played scoring in double figures at least once.
• Molly Joyce has scored 20+ points in each of the last three games, totaling 21 at Kansas City two weeks ago and 24 Thursday against Oral Roberts followed by 21 at St. Thomas Saturday.
• South Dakota and North Dakota split their season series last year, but the Coyotes swept the Fighting Hawks in two meetings during the 2023-24 season.
 
INSIDE THE NORTH DAKOTA SERIES
• The Coyotes and Fighting Hawks meet for the 91st time in series history.
• South Dakota's third most common opponent in program history is North Dakota with this being their 91st meeting all-time, behind South Dakota State (103) and Omaha (93).
• The Coyotes are 39-51 against the Fighting Hawks all-time, holding a winning record of 23-19 at home, but have struggled in Grand Forks, going just 15-30 up north.
• The Division I history between these two programs favors the Coyotes, who are 19-8 against UND as Division I foes compared to 20-43 as Division II opponents.
• As Summit League foes, USD is 13-2 against the Fighting Hawks
• Both programs have had win streaks that have spanned over nine years, with UND having a 23-0 stretch against the Yotes from 1989-2001 and USD having a 14-0 stretch from 2013-2023.
• The two programs won at home against each other last season, a 76-66 win in Vermillion for USD and an 80-54 win for North Dakota Grand Forks.
 
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS
• North Dakota is in its first season with Dennis Hutter running the show and is off to a 4-13 start with a 1-3 record in Summit League play.
• The Fighting Hawks started the conference slate out on the road with a pair of losses at Denver and Oral Roberts but picked up a home win last week against Omaha.
• UND most recently fell to Kansas City 77-56 on Saturday. Skyler Volmer tallied 14 points and Ava Miller added nine points and nine rebounds in the loss.
• Two former Coyotes are on the UND roster this season. Walker Demers leads the Hawks in scoring (10.4 ppg) and is second in rebounding (8.2 rpg). Addison Klosterbuer is out for the season due to injury.
• As a team, the Fighting Hawks rank eighth (of nine) in the Summit League in scoring at 58.2 points per game and are seventh in scoring defense at 69.0 points allowed per game.
• UND does excel on the defensive glass, ranking sixth in the NCAA (1st in the SL) in defensive rebounds at 31.6 per game. They also lead the conference in three-point attempts per game at 24.7.

RECORD VS THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
• The Coyotes have five Summit League regular season titles and four tournament championships since joining the conference in 2011 and have finished in the top four in the conference every season except one.
• South Dakota is 190-72 against the Summit League (previously Mid-Continent Conference) in program history.
• USD has winning records against seven of the eight current conference foes as members of the Summit League
• South Dakota has 20 or more Summit League wins against four current members in Summit League play history: Omaha (24), Denver (22), North Dakota State (22), and Oral Roberts (21).
 
10 YEARS OF SCSC SUCCESS
• South Dakota women's basketball is in its 10th season of calling the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, a building that has treated the Yotes well, home.
• USD is 113-26 inside the SCSC since the building opened in 2016.*
• The Coyotes have had a winning record in the SCSC in 8 of the 9 seasons played in the SCSC.
• South Dakota has a record of 58-14 against Summit League foes in the SCSC, including a winning record against all eight current foes.
• USD is undefeated against two Summit League opponents in the building: North Dakota (8-0) and Kansas City (4-0).
• South Dakota has had two undefeated seasons at home during the SCSC era: 2018-19 and 2020-21.
• USD's first win against a Top 25 opponent during the Div. I era came in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center (No. 23/22 Iowa State on Nov. 28, 2018).
 
THE TRANSFER PORTAL ERA
• Over 1,500 women's basketball players entered the transfer portal following the 2024-25 season. USD is one of at least six programs with 13+ newcomers.
• USD is one of at least seven programs with 13+ newcomers.
• USD is one of at least seven programs with at least nine transfers.
• Seven of USD's nine transfers come from Div. I programs, including two from Summit League foes.
• South Dakota's transfers hail from 6 states: California (1), Iowa (4), Minnesota (1), New Mexico (1), South Dakota (1), and Washington (1).
 
CAREER MARKS
• Career bests set against St. Thomas Saturday.
• Alex Flattery tied a career best with three assists.
 
SEASON HIGHS LAST TIME OUT
• Season highs set Saturday against St. Thomas:
• Josie Hill matched a season high with 14 points.
• Molly Joyce tied her season's best in free throws with eight and set a season high in steals with three.
• Angelina Robles tied a season-high in assists with six.
 
MILESTONE CHASING
• A handful of Coyotes are looking to reach some career milestones this season.
• Molly Joyce could reach 1,000 career points in just her third collegiate season. She passed 900 points against College of Saint Mary, currently sitting at 967 (193 as a Yote).
• Josie Hill is nearing 1,000 career points, currently at 939 (109 as a Yote).
• She is also closing in on 400 made field goals in her NCAA career, currently at 391.
• Angelina Robles passed 900 career points at St. Thomas, and now sits at 909 on her chase for 1,000.
• She's also closing in on 200 career assists, currently at 195.
• Robles is two steals away from 100 in her career.
• Tori Schlagel took 16 collegiate games to reach 100 career points, passing that total against Oral Roberts Thursday.
• Elise Turrubiates played in her 100th career NCAA basketball game Saturday against St. Thomas.
Turrubiates passed 1,000 career points including NJCAA stats earlier this season, but is closing in on 800 NCAA points, currently with 772.
• Patience Williams needs just six points for 400 in her NCAA career. She could also reach 400 career rebounds, needing 24.
 
CRASH THE GLASS
• The Coyotes have placed an emphasis on rebounding this season, and it has paid off so far as USD is one of the top rebounding teams in the country.
• USD is ranked 15th nationally and is atop the Summit League in rebounding at 43.9 rebounds per game.
• The Coyotes are getting it done on both ends of the floor, leading the conference in offensive rebounds at 13.5 per game, and ranking 13th nationally (second in the SL) in defensive rebounds at 30.4 per game.
• USD has outrebounded its opponents in 11 games this season.
• South Dakota broke the SCSC record for rebounds in a game for a second time this season against College of Saint Mary, totaling 63.
• The Coyotes previously set an SCSC record with 62 rebounds against Valparaiso.
• Patience Williams is 5th in the Summit League (114th in the NCAA) in total rebounds with 127. Her 7.5 rebounds per game is fifth in the Summit League and 154th in the NCAA.
 
DEFENSE WINS
• South Dakota has been the best defensive team in the Summit League this season, holding opponents to 56.4 points per game.
• The Coyotes lead the Summit League in scoring defense (56.4), field goal percentage defense (32.8%), and three-point percentage defense (28.8%).
• The Coyotes also rank inside the top 40 nationally in three categories: 4th in FG% defense, 13th in defensive rebounds, and 29th in scoring defense.
• South Dakota has held opponents under 30% shooting in 7 of its 16 games this season.
• USD's strong defense has allowed for them to have one of the nation's best scoring margins as the Coyotes outscore their opponents by an average of 18.1 points per game (34th in Division I).  
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