VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO) — The SDSU women blew past USD in January, doubling up the Coyotes 118-59. Now the rivalry moves south to Vermillion.
Just like their matchup a month ago, the Jackrabbits enter the State-U rivalry with an undefeated conference record. Though this time, the game will be played on USD’s home court.
“We’re going to take a lot of excitement about just having the rivalry game here at home. It helps anybody, right? But especially when you’re a younger team, you feel so much more comfortable when you’re at home. You’ve got your fans around you, and you’re shooting on your rims,” USD head coach Kayla Karius said.
SDSU comes in with the top scoring offense in the conference at 77 points per contest, but the Jackrabbits know they’ll have their hands full against the Yote defense.
“For us to be good in that game, we’re going to have to handle just physicality. They’re a very good defensive team, very physical inside, physical on the perimeter, they do a good job of just trying to take you off your cuts, and keep you off your spots. In the first game, we did a good job of handling that, second game, we’ll have to do that again,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said.
A key for USD’s defense will be staying out of foul trouble.
“You want them to defend hard, you want them to be the more physical team, to bump cutters and to have the right positioning. At the same time, you have to be in the right spot. It’s going to be really important that we defend without fouling,” Karius said.
And for the Jacks, they’ll look to bring their A-game in hopes of improving on their 13 game win streak.
“There’s only so many screens, there’s only so many defensive philosophies out there, but it’s how you do them. That’s where that tenacity, ferocity, and that energy level has to be a part of it. We’ve been there a lot this year, and it’ll be important to try and be at that level on Saturday,” Johnston said
SDSU and USD will meet on Saturday in Vermillion. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
